Smith, W. Eugene

Smith, W. Eugene

▪ American photographer
in full  William Eugene Smith  byname  Gene Smith 
born December 20, 1918, Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
died October 15, 1978, Tucson, Arizona

      American photojournalist noted for his compelling photo-essays, which were characterized by a strong sense of empathy and social conscience.

 At age 14 Smith began to use photography to aid his aeronautical studies, and within a year he had become a photographer for two local newspapers. He left college after one year to go to New York City. In 1942 Smith became a war correspondent for Life magazine and covered many of the most important battles of the Pacific, including Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, and Iwo Jima. He once said that he saw his photographs of World War II not strictly as a vehicle through which to convey news events but also as “a powerful emotional catalyst” that would help expose the tragedies of war and prevent them from occurring again. He was critically wounded while covering the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. During the next two years he underwent 32 operations. In 1947, toward the end of his painful convalescence, he took his first photograph since his injury. Entitled The Walk to Paradise Garden, this view of his own children entering a forest clearing became one of his most famous photographs. It concluded the landmark photographic exhibition “The Family of Man,” which Edward Steichen (Steichen, Edward) organized for the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1955.

      Smith returned to work for Life in 1947 and became president of the Photo League in 1949. During this period he began a series of outstanding photo-essays, including the psychologically penetrating Country Doctor (1948). Another series, Spanish Village (1951), contains many of his most memorable prints. Smith lived in the village on and off for many months, and the understanding and empathy he gained is apparent in his photographs of the villagers' daily struggle to draw life from exhausted soil. Other important photo-essays include Nurse Midwife (1951) and Man of Mercy (1954), which portray two people, a backwoods midwife and Dr. Albert Schweitzer, respectively, dedicated to easing the suffering of others.

      Smith's high sense of moral and artistic purpose began to prove incompatible with the demands of a major, popular magazine, and so he left Life in 1955 to pursue freelance work. In 1956 he began an ambitious photo-essay on the city of Pittsburgh. Almost simultaneously, he began a series of photographs of New York street scenes taken from the window of his loft on Sixth Avenue. Part of the series was published in Life in 1958 under the title “Drama Beneath a City Window.” A book of his photographs, Japan—Chapter of Image, was published in 1963.

      Smith's last great photo-essay, Minamata (1975), deals with the residents of a Japanese fishing village who suffered poisoning and gross disfigurement from the mercury wastes of a nearby chemical company. While photographing this project he was severely beaten by several local factory workers who were opposed to the revelations that his camera exposed. An extensive collection of his work was acquired by the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in 1976.

Additional Reading
William S. Johnson (ed.), W. Eugene Smith: Master of the Photographic Essay (1981); Jim Hughes, W. Eugene Smith, Shadow & Substance: The Life and Work of an American Photographer (1989); Glenn G. Willumson, W. Eugene Smith and the Photographic Essay (1992); Gilles Mora and John T. Hill (eds.), W. Eugene Smith: Photographs, 1934–1975 (1998).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • SMITH (W. E.) — SMITH WILLIAM EUGENE (1918 1978) Gene Smith est la figure la plus légendaire du photojournalisme américain. Ses images et ses grands reportages unissent une forme expressive dramatique à une humanité extrême des thèmes, et ses méthodes de travail …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Eugene Smith — can refer to:*W. Eugene Smith, photojournalist *Eugene Smith (singer), gospel singeree also*Gene Smith …   Wikipedia

  • smith — /smith/, n. 1. a worker in metal. 2. a blacksmith. v.t. 3. to forge on an anvil; form by heating and pounding: to smith armor. [bef. 900; (n.) ME, OE; c. G Schmied, ON smithr, Goth smitha; (v.) ME smithen, OE smithian; c. ON smitha, Goth… …   Universalium

  • Smith — /smith/, n. 1. Adam, 1723 90, Scottish economist. 2. Alfred E(manuel), 1873 1944, U.S. political leader. 3. Bessie, 1894? 1937, U.S. singer. 4. Charles Henry ( Bill Arp ), 1826 1903, U.S. humorist. 5 …   Universalium

  • Eugene — /yooh jeen / or, for 2, /yooh jeen/, n. 1. a city in W Oregon. 105,624. 2. a male given name: from a Greek word meaning wellborn. * * * I City (pop., 2000: 137,893), western Oregon, U.S. Located on the Willamette River, it was settled by Eugene… …   Universalium

  • Eugène — /ue zhen /, n. Prince (François Eugène de Savoie Carignan), 1663 1736, Austrian general, born in France. * * * I City (pop., 2000: 137,893), western Oregon, U.S. Located on the Willamette River, it was settled by Eugene Skinner in 1846. Named… …   Universalium

  • Eugene Allen Smith — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Eugene Allen Smith Nacimiento 27 de octubre 1841 Alabama …   Wikipedia Español

  • Eugene Chadbourne — (January 4, 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York) is an American, improvisor, guitarist and banjoist. Highly eclectic and unconventional, Chadbourne s most formative influence may be jazz [Ankeny, Jason (2008). [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg …   Wikipedia

  • Eugene Hale — (* 6. Juni 1836 in Turner, Androscoggin County, Maine; † 27. Oktober 1918 in Washington D.C.) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker (Republikanische Partei), der den Bundesstaat …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Eugene Elliott Reed — (* 23. April 1866 in Manchester, New Hampshire; † 15. Dezember 1940 ebenda) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker. Zwischen 1913 und 1915 vertrat er den Bundesstaat New Hampshire im US Repräsentantenhaus. Werdegang Eugene Reed besuchte die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”