William Eugene Smith

William Eugene Smith (1918 – 1978) was an American photojournalist known for his refusal to compromise professional standards and his brutally vivid World War IIphotographs.

W. Eugene Smith, Hitachi, Japan, 1962

As a correspondent for Ziff-Davis Publishing and then Life, Smith entered World War II on the front lines of the island-hopping American offensive against Japan, photographing U.S. Marines and Japanese prisoners of war at Saipan,Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. On Okinawa, Smith was hit by mortar fire. After recovering, he continued at Life and perfected the photo essay from 1947 to 1954.

Pittsburgh Steel

Smith joined the Magnum photo agency in 1955, after severing ties with Life. There he started his project to document Pittsburgh.

In January 1972, Smith was attacked by Chisso employees near Tokyo, in an attempt to stop him from further publicizing the Minamata disease to the world. Although Smith survived the attack, his sight in one eye deteriorated. Smith and his Japanese wife lived in the city of Minamata from 1971 to 1973 and took many photos as part of a photo essay detailing the effects of Minamata disease, which was caused by a Chisso factory discharging heavy metals into water sources around Minamata. 

Three Generations of Welsh Miners (1950) by W.E. Smith

Complications from his longterm consumption of drugs, notably amphetamines (taken to enable his workaholic tendencies), and alcohol led to a massive stroke, from which Smith died in 1978. He is buried in Crum Elbow Cemetery, Pleasant Valley, New York.