Visual Review: John H. White

John H. White, born in North Carolina in 1945, is a photojournalist whose work has been seen all over the world.

White tells an anecdote when asked how he went into the world of photography. As a child, White would chew a lot of bubblegum. At the time, a promotion was happening with Bazooka bubblegum. If you sent in 10 bubblegum wrappers and 50 cents, you would get a camera sent to you in return. White’s grandmother gave him the 50 cents, he sent his bubblegum wrappers, and then received his camera in the mail. White was only 13 when he owned his first camera.

White also explained that he enjoyed taking pictures because of his fascination with observing people. He felt that the perfect way to make a good observation was to take a picture of the moment to fully capture the essence of that moment.

White worked for the Chicago Daily News and in 1978, went to work as a photographer for the popular newspaper, the Chicago Sun Times. During his time with the Sun Times, White was known for showing everyday life in Chicago, particularly in African American communities.

White has been lucky enough to shoot some really influential people during his career. One of his famous pictures is of boxing champion Muhammad Ali:

Another incredible shot: Nelson Mandela returning home:

Pulitzer Prize winning portfolio: 1982- Life in Chicago 

During his time in Chicago and working for the Sun Times, White liked to focus on regular people going about their daily life. As mentioned before, White also focused a lot on the flourishing African American community in Chicago, who, at this point in time, lived in government housing located on the South and West sides of the city of Chicago.

In 1982, John H. White won a Pulitzer Prize for Photojournalism for Feature Photography for “a variety of photographs depicting life in Chicago”.

Considering the marginalized life African Americans endured, White managed to capture some simple pleasures through his photos.

This photo, which can be seen at the Newseum’s Pulitzer Prize winning photographs exhibit, shows a daily activity in this community.

Here, we see at least four children playing in the lawn of what seems to be their apartment building, most likely housing provided by the government. Considering the hardships this community faces, and the financial situation these kids and their families must be in to have to live in this building, the children are genuinely happy. This photo might depict that these children come from low-income families, which usually is a sad topic, however the kid’s faces and movement give the photo an overall feeling of happiness and innocence.

An interesting choice of White’s was to take this photo in black and white. Even though there is an obvious lack of color, the photo does not seem dull, again because of the expressions of joy from the kids running towards the camera.

White had the opportunity to show the world through his photos the sad reality of these communities, but instead he decided to show the blissfulness of being a child, regardless of their economic situation. White managed to capture the essence of quotidian life in Chicago.