Margaret Bourke-White
(American, 1904–1971)
[Miner mops up after explosion of vein in anthracite mine, Pennsylvania]
Object Details
Artist
Margaret Bourke-White
Date
1931
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 11 1/2 × 8 1/4 inches (29.2 × 21 cm)
Mat: 18 × 14 1/16 inches (45.7 × 35.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Gary Davis, Class of 1976
Object
Number
2005.056.009
This photograph was taken after Bourke-White wrangled permission to descend three miles into a mines(…)
This photograph was taken after Bourke-White wrangled permission to descend three miles into a mineshaft. Her mine photographs were published in the Fortune story “Hard Coal” in February 1931. The superb quality of this print suggests that Oscar Graubner, Bourke-White’s darkroom technician, printed it. Even at this early date, Bourke-White insisted that the full negative always be printed—evident by the black line showing around the edges. Known as “printing black,” by the 1930s thanks to Bourke-White’s perfectionist standards this became standard operating procedure in LIFE photo labs then headed by Graubner. (“Margaret Bourke-White: From Cornell Student to Visionary Photojournalist,” curated by Stephanie Wiles and presented at the Johnson Museum January 24 – June 7, 2015)
