W. Eugene Smith (American, 1918-1978)

With the camera, W. Eugene Smith revealed the truths behind human suffering. His formative documents of World War II serve to condemn the ravages of destruction. After the war, he exposed human and environmental ruin from the industrial waste and profit in his series concerning the Japanese village of Minamata. His photo-essays for Life magazine between 1947 and 1954 reversed the role of pictures illustrating words. The visual and associative power of the photograph stood on its own in such series as the "Spanish Village." Smith's photographic legacy is distinguished by high moral and aesthetic standards.

Selected Bibliography
Bunnell, Peter, and Kirstein, Lincoln. W. Eugene Smith: His Photographs and Notes. New York: 1969.

Johnson, William S. W. Eugene Smith: Master of the Photographic Essay. New York: Aperture, 1981.

Lamb, Charles, and Stark, Amy. The W. Eugene Smith Papers. Tucson: Center for Creative Photography, 1983.

Home | Themes | Artists | Images | Essays | About Idea Photographic
© | Museum of New Mexico