Long-time friend and photographic collaborator to Margaret Bourke-White, Oscar Graubner, a photographer himself, went to work for Bourke-White shortly after she moved to New York to help create the memorable look of FORTUNE. Graubner was a kind of alter ego whose function was to realize Bourke-White's aesthetic. Not only was he her darkroom technician, he would technically advise her, keep her cameras in perfect working order, and load the sheet film and film packs for her. In a very real sense, Graubner became Margaret Bourke-White's second pair of eyes.

The beauty and conviction of Bourke-White's prints played a part in their success; had the printing not been masterful, her imagery would have been limited, for many of her negatives were notoriously poor and often so underexposed they were nearly impossible to print. Without fail, Graubner could bring out the contrast Bourke-White so prized and find the detail in the dark areas the eye could barely penetrate. Thus, early in her career, Bourke-White had found in Graubner the man who could fulfill her perfectionist expectations.

Oscar Graubner himself was a miniscule man, exceptionally neat and tidy, and as silent as a shadow. Some thought him obsequious, especially next to Bourke-White. He considered his boss a slave driver, but admired her as one might a great master. He was a superb printer, and more than one photographer agreed that he was the best darkroom man they ever knew.

Graubner and Bourke-White were a team, he enabled her to be Bourke-White, and when she signed the contract with LIFE, agreeing to give up her own studio, she brought with her Oscar Graubner, her own personal printer, and two assistants. Subsequently, Graubner became the head of the LIFE magazine darkroom and printed for others as the magazine grew and hired more staff photographers. Even as his work at LIFE darkroom increased, Graubner never gave up his allegiance to Bourke-White.

With Bourke-White, Graubner established the standards and practices of what would become the Time Life Photo Lab. Because of Bourke-White's demands and standards of perfectionism, their standards then became the standards of the Time Life Photo Lab and even became responsible for one of the peculiarities of LIFE's printing. Bourke-White insisted her negative be printed in full, not permitting them to be cropped so much as an eighth of an inch along the edges. In time, the lab printed full negative for everyone, a practice known as "printing black."