Object Details
Artist
Margaret Bourke-White
Date
1941 (negative), ca. 1965 (print)
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 19 5/16 x 15 1/8 in. (49 x 38.4 cm)Mount (matted): 27 15/16 × 22 1/16 in. (71 × 56 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist, Class of 1927, and LIFE Magazine
Object
Number
65.577
After multiple requests and refusals, Bourke-White finally received permission to photograph Joseph (…)
After multiple requests and refusals, Bourke-White finally received permission to photograph Joseph Stalin inside the Kremlin in late July 1941. Although she reported that he was one of the most difficult subjects she ever photographed, she managed to catch a brief look of amusement when she and her interpreter crawled on the floor, chasing some flashbulbs that escaped from her pocket. This portrait and others capturing the German bombing of Moscow became immediate sensations in America. (“Margaret Bourke-White: From Cornell Student to Visionary Photojournalist,” curated by Stephanie Wiles and presented at the Johnson Museum January 24 – June 7, 2015)
