The family settled in Macon, Georgia, and Burke studied English at Emory University, graduating in 1937.
During WW2, he served Claire Chennault's 14th Air Force in Kunming, and published a book titled My Father in China.
After the Communist takeover of China, he moved to India where he eventually became New Delhi bureau chief of Time-Life magazine.
He is best known today for his photojournalism in the postcolonial subcontinent in the 1950s and 1960s, covering India, Pakistan and the rest of the region.
In October 1964, he slipped and fell to his death 60 miles (97 km) north of Tezpur, Assam, while trying to take a picture in the Himalayas.