US photographer Margaret Bourke-White traveled to British India 75 years ago when there was a dispute over independence. She takes the iconic photo of Mahatma Gandhi at the spinning wheel
A year before India becomes independent from British colonial rule, those in power argue over how: should a united country follow suit or two states, one predominantly Hindu and one Muslim?
In 1946 Margaret Bourke-White was commissioned by the photo magazine “Life Magazine” to photograph the leading figures in this process. She was previously the first US war photographer to work during World War II. In the spring of 75 years ago, she traveled to India.
Her photo report “India’s Leaders” will be published on May 27th. “As independence approaches, they fail to come to an agreement on how they want to use the new freedom,” is the subtitle translated.
Bourke-White’s pictures can be seen on seven pages: of the symbolically vacant throne, of the freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi with his followers, of the Muslim politician Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the British negotiators. The iconic image of Gandhi on the spinning wheel is also created on the journey. However, it is not initially printed. Perhaps because it radiated calm, in a time without peace. It later becomes one of the most famous pictures of the photographer, who died of Parkinson’s in 1971.
Bourke-White meets Gandhi on one of his days of silence. You are called two conditions: no conversation, no artificial light. But when she enters Gandhi’s dim room, she negotiates to be allowed to use the flashlight three times. Especially the bright window on the right above Gandhi bothers her. But the photo works.
Almost two years later, when Gandhi was shot, the picture in “Life Magazine” fills half a page. Below is the obituary with the heading: “India loses her ‘great soul’” – India is losing its “great soul”. Peace and quiet, it seems, fit better now.
Independence is already a reality and, contrary to Gandhi’s efforts, the former colony has been divided into two parts: India, which is predominantly Hindu, and Pakistan, which is predominantly Muslim. For millions of people on both sides of the new border, this meant resettlement, displacement and violence.
The spinning wheel is more prominent in the picture than Gandhi himself. It was considered a symbol of independence. Gandhi had called on the population to use self-spun yarns and woven fabrics to encourage domestic production and to boycott British textiles. Consequently, the spinning wheel was intended as a central component of the Indian flag. But in 1947 it was agreed to use a historical wheel instead of the spinning wheel as a symbol of the rule of law. Jakob Maurer
