Margaret Bourke-White- who was she, and what did she do for photography?

Margaret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke White was born June 14th, 1904 in the Bronx, NY. Her father was an inventor as well as an engineer. He believed in educational equality, and opportunity for everyone. He was also somewhat of a camera enthusiast. He introduced Margaret to photography at a young age. Her mother was very kind and nurturing, and also attended school until she passed away.

Margaret attended many schools and universities all over the country, studying herpetology, which is the study of reptiles. During her schooling, she attended many prestigious universities such as Columbia University in New York, the University of Michigan, Purdue University in Indiana, Western Reserve University in Ohio, and eventually graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 1927. She was obviously well educated, and a very intelligent woman.

Photojournalism was still a very new idea in 1929, and she became the first female to be hired as one. She was hired by Fortune magazine in 1929. In 1930 she was the first Western woman allowed into the Soviet Union. She was hired as the first female photojournalist for Life Magazine in 1935, shortly after it was created. November 23, 1935, one of her photographs adorned the cover of the first magazine's first publication.

During WWII she became the first female war correspondent allowed in war zones, and the first to enter and document the death camps. She later put these photos into a book titled You Have Seen Their Faces, which is one of six books she published about her international travels and experiences.

Margaret Bourke-White died in Connecticut in August of 1971. She will always be remembered as the leader of the female photojournalist. She opened the doors for woman in so many different ways, and influenced many people with her photographs and the statements that they made.

First photograph

First Photograph Ever Taken (1825) by Nicephore Niepce

This photograph is actually a 17th century Flemish engraving. It was taken using the heliopraphy process which consisted of using a layer of bitumen on glass of metal, which hardened in relation to exposure of light. The excess is then washed off with oil of lavender, and only the hardened image remains, leaving your photograph.

Photograph by Joseph Nicephore Niepce (1826)

This photo was taken in 1826 by Nicephore Niepce. It is considered the first photograph taken of a scene from nature. It was taken from the window of Le Gras. As you can see, the quality is poor. But you can almost make out the shapes of pillars and the sides of buildings on both sides. This photograph took 8 hours to fully develop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:View_from_the_Window_at_Le_Gres,_Joseph_Nic%C3%A9phore_Ni%C3%A9pce.jpg

Timeline of photography main events

Important Dates and Events in Photography History

5th-4th centuries B.C.

Chinese and Greek philosophers described thebasic principles of optics and the camera

1664-1666

Isaac Newton discovers that white light is composed of different colors

1794

First Panorama opens the forerunner of the movie house invented by Robert Barker

1814

Joseph Niepce achieves first photopgraphic image with camera obscura-however,the image required 8 hours of light exposure and later faded

1837

Louis Daquerre's first daquerreotype-the first image that was fixed and did not fade and needed under thirty minutes of exposure time

1840

First American patent issued in photography to Alexander Wolcott for his camera

1841

William Henry Talbot patents the Calotype process-first negative-positive process making possible the first multiple copies

1843

First advertisement with a photograph made in Philadelphia

1859

First panoramic camera patented- the Sutton

1884

George Eastman invents flexible, paper based photographic film

1900

First mass-marketed camera-the Brownie

1913/1914

First 35mm camera developed

1935

Eastman Kodak markets Kodachrome film

1948

Edwin Land markets the Polaroid camera

1960

EG&G develops extreme underwater camera for U.S. Navy

1963

Polaroid introduces instant color film

1968

Photograph of the earth taken from the moon

http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/Photography.htm

Photography-brief overview of Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (February 20,1902-April 22,1982)

Ansel Adams used timing and location to make him one of the single most recognizable photographers by name. His sweeping views of the stunning Western United States won the appreciation of the vast majority of Americans.

Ansel was born February 20, 1902 in San Francisco, California. When he was only 12 years old his father withdrew him from school. His parents were in their 50's by this time, and Ansel was being harassed about it at school. His father tought him basic arithmatic and English, as well as Piano and art.

In 1916 the Adams family took a trip to Yosemite National Park, during which Ansel was given a Kodak Brownie, his first camera. Shortly after that, in 1919, Ansel joined the Sierra Club. The Club was responsible for publishing some of his first works in a club newsletter.

In 1932 Ansel joined a group of photographers who called themselves f/64. They were dedicated to keeping photography looking like photography, not glossing over bits and pieces.

Some of the other photographers in the group were Willard Van Dyke, Jon Paul Edwards, Edward Welton, Henry Swift and Imogen Cunningham.

Adams was well known for his photos of the Sierra Nevadas and Yosemite. Working with Dorothea Lange, Adams created many image sets for Time Magazine and several others. He was also recognized for his coverage of the Japenese interment camps during WWII.