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December 7, 2008
John H. White: On an ‘assignment from God’
The legacy of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin lives on in the work and life of John H. White, a Chicago Sun-Times photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner who was a friend of the archbishop.
White has photographed Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, President Jimmy Carter, Pope John Paul II, President-elect Barack Obama, to name just a few, but it’s the cardinal that he returns to most.
“Cardinal Bernardin is still, by far, the highlight of my journey. He connected eye-to- eye and heart-to-heart,” White told Catholic New World staff recently when he came to the offices to share his journey.
He stood before them in a dark gray suit and tie with white athletic shoes on his feet, like he was ready to run off to an assignment at a moment’s notice. His media credentials dangled around his neck and his Nikon camera was never long out of his hands.
Himself a Protestant, White first met Cardinal Bernardin in 1979 when Pope John Paul II visited the United States. Bernardin was archbishop of Cincinnati at the time. A few years later, White was assigned to cover the new archbishop of Chicago. It turned out to be the bishop he met before.
“I always say we were bonded by the Holy Spirit,” he said.
White, who was one of the pallbearers at the cardinal’s funeral, provided the photos for the books “This Man Bernardin” and “The Final Journey of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin.”
He said the cardinal’s prayerful manner and spirit has inspired him throughout his life, and especially in these years since his friend’s death.
White, who calls himself “a picture-taking man,” landed a job as a photojournalist in Chicago after entering a photo contest in North Carolina. He didn’t win but was noticed by a Daily News editor here who offered him a job.
“Photography discovered me. I didn’t discover photography,” he said.
It’s become a vocation for him. He called photojournalists “visual servants.” And views his gift as an assignment from God.
“To me, it’s God’s precious gift. The visual. We all use the same camera. It’s the camera of the heart,” he said.
Today he continues working at the Sun- Times and has taught at Columbia College in downtown Chicago for 30 years. Catholic New World photo editor Karen Callaway was one of his students.
“As remarkable as John’s photos are, I believe his greatest gift to the world is not his photos but what he has taught all of us,” said Callaway. “Responsibility for what we do, caring about our subjects and shooting from the heart are just some of the characteristics he has instilled in hundreds of amazing photojournalists that have been his students over the last 30 years. He has made this world a better place by those lessons learned. That’s his true legacy.”
He told Catholic New World staff that each person has an “assignment from God.”
“Realize that whatever you do, you’re on an assignment,” he said. “You must fulfill your assignments from life. Every day.”
Talking with and praying to God is a regular part of his day.
“I don’t do anything without putting God first,” he said.
White shared how it was prayer that led to him capturing the photo that won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1979 (see dancer photo at bottom of page). (White was awarded the Pulitzer for general excellence in photography. This general excellence award is no longer offered.)
He was sent to a dance school to take some pictures but it was an overcast day, not good for light. Not liking to use a flash with his photographs, White prayed to God that he would have an afternoon of light. Didn’t get it. Next, he prayed for 15 minutes of light. He was in the studio and it wasn’t coming.
“How about 5 minutes of light, God?” he asked. And then all of a sudden there was a ray of light that came through one of the studio’s windows and he took his pictures.
“I asked for five minutes of light and he [God] gave me a Pulitzer Prize.”
John White
John White
