Margaret Bourke-White defined the 20th century with her incredible photography.

She was the first woman war photographer, the first foreigner granted permission to photograph in the Soviet Union, and her work is on the cover of the first ever issue of LIFE magazine.

All of this, along with her uncanny ability to capture stories and convey sentiments in images, made her one of the most important photographers of her time – perhaps even of all time.

Here’s BuzzFeed News:

Her striking and undeniably modern pictures caught the eye of magazine publisher Henry Luce, who in 1930 offered Bourke-White a staff position at Fortune magazine. Her work there allowed her the opportunity to document emerging industries in prewar Germany.

In 1935, she became the first foreigner granted permission to shoot within the Soviet Union. The next year, Luce once again offered Bourke-White a job — this time at his new magazine, Life.

For the rest of her career, Bourke-White photographed for Life magazine, documenting some of the most impactful moments of the 20th century: from the battlefields of World War II to the harsh realities of segregation in the American South. Margaret Bourke-White died in 1971 from Parkinson’s disease at age 67.

The following pictures highlight the incredible career and legacy of Bourke-White:

Two fliers of the 8th Bomber Command clad in high-altitude flying clothes on September 1, 1942.

Comedian and singer Martha Raye performs for an audience of US soldiers during a United States Organizations (USO) tour for troops stationed in North Africa, 1943.

Artillery Marines of the Army’s 92nd Division on April 1, 1945.

Emaciated male prisoners lie in bunks at the Buchenwald concentration camp during liberation by US forces on April 28, 1945.

A segregated space in Greenville, South Carolina, 1956.

An unidentified family cutting watermelon slices in Greenville, South Carolina, 1956.

Mohandas Gandhi reads as he sits cross-legged on the floor at his home in 1946.

A Tembu miner, covered by a blanket dyed with red ochre, awaits a medical exam in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1950.

Bourke-White’s work helped pave the way for the woman photographers that came after her.

For more of her works, go here.

[source:buzzfeednews]