The Genius of W. Eugene Smith

4/30/2023 ISO 1200 Magazine 1 Comments

The story of Eugene Smith, also known as William Eugene Smith, is one of passion, devotion, and intensity in the world of photography. It all began with his love for photography and his desire to capture life as it is, unposed and real. His ambition and dedication to his craft would lead him to a career with Newsweek and eventually Life magazine.

Smith was a photographer who did not deal with single images; he dealt with photo essays and incredibly enormous bodies of work. In 1948, he spent 23 days chronicling the day-to-day challenges faced by Dr. Ernest Chariani, the sole doctor in nearly 400 square miles of Kremlin, Colorado. The essay "Country Doctor", consisted of 100 photographs, and provided a powerful and intimate look at the daily life and struggles of a small-town doctor. The photo essay was widely acclaimed for its humanistic style and attention to detail and is still celebrated as one of the most significant works of photojournalism in history.

His last photo essay was titled "Minamata," which documented the devastating effects of industrial pollution on the residents of Minamata, Japan. Smith spent several years on this project, and the resulting photo essay was published in Life magazine in 1972. The images are haunting and powerful and helped bring attention to the issue of environmental pollution and its impact on human health.

Video and image via T. Hopper