Margaret Bourke-White
(American, 1904–1971)
[Pig Dust: final remains of slaughtered pigs are ground into livestock feed at Swift Meat Packing Plant]
Object Details
Artist
Margaret Bourke-White
Date
1929
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 13 × 9 1/4 inches (33 × 23.5 cm)
Mat: 20 1/2 × 15 15/16 inches (52 × 40.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Gary Davis, Class of 1976
Object
Number
2004.045.003
Accompanied by Fortune’s managing editor Parker Lloyd-Smith, Bourke-White visited the Swift & Comp(…)
Accompanied by Fortune’s managing editor Parker Lloyd-Smith, Bourke-White visited the Swift & Company meatpacking plant in Chicago in 1929. On their final day, they reached a building where the final remains of slaughtered pigs were ground into livestock feed. Despite the unbearable stench, Bourke-White set up her camera and had a workman pose to provide a sense of scale. When she finished, she left her camera cloth and other small equipment behind to be burned since they had absorbed the nauseating smell. Like Ore loading docks, this photograph was taken in conjunction with a story published in the first issue of Fortune magazine. (“Margaret Bourke-White: From Cornell Student to Visionary Photojournalist,” curated by Stephanie Wiles and presented at the Johnson Museum January 24 – June 7, 2015)
