The image offered here, with its bold abstraction of structure and shadow, demonstrates Bourke-White’s ability to incorporate avant-garde compositional ideas into her commercial and editorial work.

This photograph comes originally from the collection of artist, photographer, and poet Arthur Smith Gray (1884-1976). Based in Cleveland, Gray was a principal figure in the marketing department of Standard Oil of Ohio from 1929 to 1949, where he redesigned nearly every public-facing aspect of the company, creating a consistent and recognizable brand. It is believed that Gray shared darkroom space with Bourke-White during her formative years in Cleveland in the late 1920s. Bourke-White also produced photographs for Standard Oil during Gray’s tenure. The two remained in contact after Bourke-White moved to New York City.

Although the circumstances behind Gray’s poem From Orchids to Steel are unknown, it seems to provide an apt description of Bourke-White’s approach to photographing industry:

Slip of a woman that drives you
to picture steel and steam

What is there in your softness that
craves such hardness and heat

Your will in hand (steel)
Your feelings intense (heat)

Does your body thrill as your consciousness
receives the impact of plunging
masses of steel; surging
volumes of steam, and roaring
blinding fires

Must your love be of such mettle
(or come of such mettle)