W. Eugene Smith

An American from Wichita, Kansas, photographer W. Eugene Smith was born in 1918 into a period of remarkable change in the years following the First World War. A witness to great shifts in the American midwest and around the world, Smith continued to document society until his death in 1978. A pioneer of the photo essay, looking back on his work, Smith's ideas of right and wrong and capacity and willingness to help others emerges clearly from the techniques he used and what he chose to capture.

From the end of the 1930s until his death, Smith worked for Newsweek, Life and eventually the Magnum Photos agency. Yet his unwillingness to compromise his professional standards often put him at odds with his employers.

His first work to receive serious notice was his coverage of American marines as they island hopped through the Pacific during the Second World War. His style of tight shots, simple lines and raw black and white carried a heavy emotional and visual impact back to home-front readers. But while giving a vivid and often gory account of the front, Smith was often able to also capture the rare peaceful pauses and moments of humanity that emerged amidst the world's most brutal war.

In 1955 Smith left Life and joined Magnum and began one of his most ambitious projects: Pittsburgh. Designed as a photo essay offering a cross section of the city, its infrastructure and people, Pittsburgh would become the largest project he ever undertook.

Prior to setting out on this mission, Smith had, in the eyes of many, perfected the photo essay a collection of images gathered and presented together as a narrative. At first, Pittsburgh was supposed to take three weeks to complete, but it ended up spanning three years. Becoming too large to ever be shown, it was finally published as a series of book-length photo essays.

It is within this project that Smith's skill juggling light, shadow and his subject's emotion emerges in its fullest form. In industrial smelting and steel works, he used the shadows of workers and buildings in incredible contrast to the fires of production.

Smith's last great work and photo essay revolved around the Japanese city of Minamata, and the effects of Minamata disease a condition similar to Mercury poisoning, brought on by the dumping of heavy metals by a Chisso factory into the water source and bay surrounding Minamata. The most powerful photo from Smith's work in Japan is Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath. It is at once a simple and complex image, displaying Smith's ability to use light, shadow, emotion and the simple qualities of black and white film to their full potential. And through this image the attention of the world was directed toward Minamata sufferers.

Smith's impact on photojournalism is hard to ignore. His unique and brutally vivid style, coupled with his artistic use of black and white, helped him create images that continue to resonate decades after they were taken.