W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith
Smith and wife Aileen, 1974
(Photo by Consuelo Kanaga)
Born
William Eugene Smith

(1918-12-30)December 30, 1918
DiedOctober 15, 1978(1978-10-15) (aged 59)
OccupationPhotojournalist
Years active1934–1978
Spouse
Aileen Mioko
(m. 1971)

William Eugene Smith (December 30, 1918 – October 15, 1978) was an American photojournalist.[1] He has been described as "perhaps the single most important American photographer in the development of the editorial photo essay."[2] His major photo essays include World War II photographs, the visual stories of an American country doctor and a nurse midwife, the clinic of Albert Schweitzer in French Equatorial Africa, the city of Pittsburgh, and the pollution which damaged the health of the residents of Minamata in Japan.[3] His 1948 series, Country Doctor, photographed for Life, is now recognized as "the first extended editorial photo story".[2]

  1. ^ Peacock, Scot. "W(illiam) Eugene Smith." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2003. Biography in Context.
  2. ^ a b O'Hagan, Sean (August 6, 2017). "W Eugene Smith, the photographer who wanted to record everything". The Observer. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  3. ^ Hudson, Berkley (2009). Sterling, Christopher H. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Journalism. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE. pp. 1060–67. ISBN 978-0-7619-2957-4.