Margaret Bourke-White

           A woman that could see so much beauty in simplest of things. Just one click of the camera and her beautiful picture would be something special. Margaret Bourke-White was the greatest photographer of her time. She was a hero because of her adventurous and imaginative qualities. If she wanted a picture of something she would go to great lengths to get it. She once stood atop the Empire State building to get a shot of the street traffic hundreds of feet below her. One of her earthly but magical powers was to bring the world to you. What started as just a hobby turned into the greatest career of a lifetime.

 

          Margaret lived in the Bronx of New York. Her father worked as an engineer-designer in the printing industry. She would often visit the steel mill that her father worked at. She grew up with the sights and sounds of a steel mill, so it is no wonder that she grew to love them. Later, as an adult, she went to a steel mill and started to take pictures. She noticed the pictures would come out dark and not show the molten steel that she thought was so beautiful. Therefore she decide to reinvent the magnesium flare. To get the light she needed, she would have someone stand next to the molten steel with magnesium. The flammable magnesium would be set off giving the light that Margaret needed. The pictures came out bright and beautiful. These pictures soon caught the eye of her future employer.

In 1929 Margaret accepted a job from Fortune magazine as an associate editor and staff photographer. Later she was sent to Germany and was the first Western Photographer who was given permission to photograph the Soviet Industry. Awhile after that she was sent to India by Life magazine to take photos of the damage caused by the India-Pakistan partition. She took photos of corpses in the streets and refugees who were not there. She took this time in India to interview Gandhi. Unfortunately, she was the last person to interview him a few hours before he was assassinated.

          Margaret Bourke-White could see things that nobody else could. I compared many of her photos with others and found that her's were the best. She was an adventurous woman, and to a shy girl that wishes to be more, she goes above and beyond being a role model. She is the very reason that I want to be a photographer. I hope to take models and make them even more beautiful than they already are. To make boring scenes inspiring. I want to achieve what TV can't; imagination. My definition of a hero is adventurous, imaginative, and down to earth.  She saw amazing things that would last a lifetime.

          Margaret Bourke-White made a simple hobby into a lifetime of great memories. She was adventurous, smart and imaginative. Heroes don't have to be strong or great at fighting, they just need to be inspiring. Margaret will always be a hero to me and many others as well. For more info on Margaret and her adventures, go to scholastic.com.