Thursday, June 2, 2011

margaret bourke white, chrysler building gargoyle


margaret bourke white.
chrysler building gargoyle.
1929-1930.
 
Margaret Bourke-White is known to be one of the first female photographer for Life magazine. She was also the first female to document World War II and is known for documenting the Soviet industry. She was born in New Yorkin 1904 and moved to New Jersey. Before working for Henry Luce at Life magazine she was a staff memeber and photographer for Fortune magazine. She is known for documenting important people and places, such as Ghandi and the Statue of Liberty. Her photograph of the Fort Peck Dam was the first photograph on the cover of Life magazine.
 
Margaret Bourke White was not only responsible for documenting world changing events, but she gave people the real look at those events, people, places. Her pictures were used to fill the entire cover of Life magazine, so they were taken and printed showing huge scale. She was the first woman to eb allowed to take pictures in combat zones of WW2. She was fearless and would go above and beyond to take any picture.
 
The photograph I chose was the Chrysler Building Gargoyle one she took in 1929. This image stuck out to me because I remember in one of my first media classes we discussed Bourke-White and were shown copies of her work. The photograph that I remember is one where she is on the edge of the b uilding setting up her camera to take the picture of the gargoyle, I remember thinking 'now thats dedication.' Sure it is just a picture of a gargoyle, in cities they are lurking off buildings everywhere, but what also sparked my interest for this photograph was the way she took it. It is at an incredible angle, one that everyday people walking along the sidewalks of a busy city don't get to experience without the help of Bourke-White. We're so used to staring up at a gargoyle, seeing its claws extended our way. Bourke-White made this gargoyle look like a lion in the wilderness, the city skyline being its' jungle. Everything about this photgraph seems perfect, even the glare that is reflected off of its cold hard skin. Bourke-White used her technique and skill in photography to take this very static creature and bring it to life.

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