Margaret Bourke-White

2026-02-06 - 2026-04-26

February 6 – April 25, 2026.

Margaret Bourke-White was a pioneer for women and an icon in American photography. As a founding member of LIFE (she photographed the first cover), she became a world-famous symbol of globe-trotting photojournalism. And that she did it in a male world made her success even more spectacular. Her photos have proven to have a timeless appeal, continuing to influence viewers’ opinions not only about the subjects photographed, but also about the artist behind the camera and the times in which she lived.

Her combination of intelligence, talent, ambition, and flexibility made her an ideal contributor to the new journalism that developed during the thirties. She was a woman, doing a man's job, in a man's world, from the foundries of Cleveland to the battlefields in World War II. She had a deep-rooted belief in an artist’s duty to change the world. Known to her Life colleagues as “Maggie the Indestructible,” Bourke-White documented some of the most pivotal moments of the 20th century and changed the face of photography, dramatically altering the influence of photojournalism by using a new technique, the photographic essay. Not only did she document many of the most significant events of the 20th century, she also put a human face to the tragedies and the injustices of the powerful. She showed that photographers could be brave, could influence public opinion, and could be strong women