Margaret Bourke-White Quotes

United States, Photographer
June 14, 1904 – August, 27, 1971.

Margaret Bourke-White was an American photographer and documentary photographer. She is best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of the Soviet five-year plan, the first American female war photojournalist, and having one of her photographs (the construction of Fort Peck Dam) on the cover of the first issue of Life magazine. She died of Parkinson's disease about eighteen years after developing symptoms.

Nothing attracts me like a closed door. I cannot let my camera rest until I have pried it open.

Margaret Bourke-White
- Doors
- Cameras
- Closed
To understand another human being you must gain some insight into the conditions which made him what he is.

Margaret Bourke-White

I'm afraid my closely guarded solitude causes some hurt feelings now and then. But how to explain, without wounding someone, that you want to be wholly in the world you are writing about, that it would take two days to get the visitor's voice out of the house so that you could listen to your own characters again?

Margaret Bourke-White
The camera is a remarkable instrument. Saturate yourself with your subject, and the camera will all but take you by the hand and point the way.

Margaret Bourke-White
Photography is a very subtle thing. You must let the camera take you by the hand, as it were, and lead you into your subject.

Margaret Bourke-White
If you banish fear, nothing terribly bad can happen to you.

Margaret Bourke-White
- Happen
- Terribly
- Banish
Life wanted faces that would express what we wanted to tell. Not just the unusual or striking face, but the face that would speak out the message from the printed page. I am always looking for some typical person or face that will tie the picture essay together in a human way.

Margaret Bourke-White
The sights I have just seen [at Buchenwald] are so unbelievable that I don't think I'll believe them myself until I've seen the photographs.

Margaret Bourke-White

If you want to photograph a man spinning, give some thought to why he spins. Understanding for a photographer is as important as the equipment he uses.

Margaret Bourke-White
A burning purpose attracts others who are drawn along with it and help fulfill it.

Margaret Bourke-White
- Purpose
- Helping
- Burning