W. Eugene Smith
(1918 – 1978)
Considered the originator of “The Photo Essay” his journalistic projects covered the planet. Essays such as The Country Doctor, and Nurse Midwife: Maude Callen were presented in their entirety in Life Magazine. He photographed Albert Schweitzer‘s clinic in Africa as well as tracing the mercury poisoning of a whole village in Minamata, Japan. His war photographs are as much a document of the horror of war as a plea against all war. Risking his life a multitude of times and having suffered numerous injuries he later turned his camera toward his family devoting his work to “beauty” rather than the ills of war and the less fortunate. These family photographs were a departure for him and helped him heal from all he had seen.
