taken by Bourke-White in New York City, 1939
For me, the most obvious connection I make with Margaret Bourke-White and the Early Modern era, is her relation to technological and scientific advances during the time. Because she was a college student during the Great Depression, it had little effect on her morale to succeed. After attending many colleges, she finally completed her degree at Cornell and then moved to Cleveland, Ohio where she begin her photojournalist career. Her childhood was also a precursor for her successes in photojournalism. Her father was a naturalist, engineer, and inventor. I believe it is her father’s imaginative spirit that inspired her imagination and technical prowess.
I chose this specific portrait of M. Bourke-White’s, because I felt it best represented the influences of technology. At the time this photo was published in LIFE magazine (1939), it was quite an astonishing view. Aviation was still a developing industry that was just beginning to offer access to the general public at this time. Not only does this picture well represent technological advances, but it also extremely visually appealing. It as if the DC-4 is resting on top of the buildings, waiting for the public below to climb up the towers and hop on in for a ride. The time, effort and money that it must have taken to capture this photo are beyond me. Aerial photography seems like it was just beginning to enter photojournalism (a completely blind guess, but this is a kind of picture that I have never seen before from this time period).
Billy's Blog 
November 6, 2009 at 7:14 am
I can tell you did a little research before blogging. I find it hard to believe that I didn’t even think about this photo being so revolutionary before. The thought hadn’t even occurred to me that an aerial view would not have been possible before this time. It just goes to show how times change and we take things for granted as we progress! It is truly fascinating to put yourself in that time and perspective.
November 7, 2009 at 3:57 am
This is an amazing shot, i didn’t really think of it in terms of how innovative aerial photography was for this era until I read your blog. I guess we are so inundated with technology today that it’s difficult to recognize cutting edge in historical photos sometimes. This photo is also great for comparisons, how much different would the view from this same perspective be today? How many of these buildings have stood the test of time? I wonder what this photographer would think of our IMAX images and virtual rides, and all that started with daring shots such as this.
November 7, 2009 at 8:10 pm
It is obvious as to how you related this photograph and artist to the advances in science and technology. This post is very informative and you did a great job of including your thoughts. This photo is remarkable and it is interesting to think that this type of photo would not have been possible before this time. It is crazy to think of all of the things that we now take for granted without realizing that a short time ago, these things were not possible. Great post!
March 4, 2010 at 10:23 pm
It is a good photo now but can you imagine what it was like back when they didn’t have satellite photos? I agree this is a great depiction of the explosion of science and technology during this time period. It was cool to know that she did this while a college student. I wonder how they took this photo? Did it say? Nice choice or representation
March 15, 2010 at 9:15 pm
I agree with your evaluation that college probably wasn’t that prestigous in the Great Depression, who cared if you went because there was no jobs anyway, right? This photo was before the time when people would take airplanes places, that is my favorite part, there are some brave people in this photo! Great submission!
April 6, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Your relation to tying it with the influence of technological and scientific advances is great. You described why it relates greatly and it was very easy to read. This picture not only was a huge step into ariel shooting but it is fun to look at because of the city below. I agree with you that it looks like the airplane is just resting on the buildings. I also think the black and white adds a lot to the picture. One of the first things I wondered when I looked at this is how do you think she took the picture? Because I doubt they had satellite photos then, it must have taken great effort to get this shot. Then I saw that you added the time and money that it must have taken also makes me curious. I think this is one of my favorite early modern pictures.