Happy Birthday William Eugene Smith ~ 1918 – 1978 Bill was an American photojournalist known for his refusal to compromise professional standards and his brutally vivid World War II photographs. As a correspondent for Ziff-Davis Publishing, and then again Life Magazine, Smith was often on the front lines in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was with the American forces during their island-hopping offensive against Japan, photographing U.S. Marines and Japanese prisoners of war at Saipan, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. In 1945, while he was photographing battle conditions on Okinawa, Smith was hit by mortar fire. After recovering, he continued at Life, until 1954. In January 1972, Smith was attacked by employees of the Chisso Company near Tokyo, in an attempt to stop him from further publicizing the effects of Minamata disease to the world.[7] Although Smith survived the attack, his sight in one eye deteriorated. During the time Smith was not able to work due to his injuries, his wife of Japanese origin, Aileen M. Smith, continued his work. Smith and his wife lived in the city of Minamata from 1971 to 1973, and created a photo essay detailing the effects of the poison induced disease, caused by a Chisso factory discharging heavy metals into water sources around Minamata. The essay was published in 1975 as Minamata, Words and Photographs by W.E. Smith and A.M. Smith. One of his most famous works, Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath, taken in December 1971, and published a few months after the 1972 attack, drew worldwide attention to the effects of Minamata disease. Smith died of a massive stroke on October 15, 1978 in Tucson, Arizona. He was buried in Crum Elbow Cemetery, Pleasant Valley, New York.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 12:14:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015