Synopses & Reviews
W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978) revolutionized the photo-essay form with the works he published in Life magazine between 1948 and 1956. This monograph reproduces images from six classic sequences: Country Doctor, which portrays the selfless and sometimes frustrating work of a doctor in rural America; Spanish Village, the most powerful photographic study of 1950s Spain; Nurse Midwife, which examines the life of a black woman in the American south; A Man of Mercy, which documents Dr. Albert Schweitzer's humanitarian work in Africa; Pittsburgh, Smith's first freelance assignment, previously unpublished; and Minamata, a photo-essay recording the effects caused by a mercury spill in a region inhabited by Japanese fishermen. Writings by W. Eugene Smith, clarifying his field techniques and guiding principles, are included here in an English-language insert, alongside the tale of his most praised photograph, A Walk to a Paradise Garden, and an essay on Spain in the 1950s, the setting for his Spanish Village essay.
Synopsis
Photographs by W. Eugene Smith
Essay by Jim Hughes
My station in life is to capture the action of life, the life of the world, its humor, its tragedies, in other words, life as it is. A true picture, unposed and real.--W. Eugene Smith
W. Eugene Smith is the master of the photographic essay; he created essays which include some of the most dramatic and affecting single images of the twentieth century. Fiercely energetic, he made countless photographs memorable for their formal brilliance and for their compassion. This volume of Aperture's Masters of Photography presents more than seventy of Smith's greatest photographs, selected from work created over the course of forty-five years.
Smith's interests were broad; his work spanned subject matter from the process of birth to the horrors of death in action. Included here are photographs from Smith's most celebrated photo-essays, including Country Doctor, Spanish Village, Pittsburgh, and Minamata, as well as examples of his World War II work and selections from the later, more introspective work made in his loft in New York City.
In his introductory essay, Jim Hughes, Smith's biographer, provides an overview of Smith's life, and insight into his work.