William Eugene Smith ( eng. William Eugene Smith ; December 30, 1918 , Wichita , Kansas - October 15, 1978 , Tucson , Arizona ) is an American photojournalist , documentary photographer , known for his work during the Second World War .
| William Eugene Smith | |
|---|---|
| William Eugene Smith | |
| Date of Birth | December 30, 1918 |
| Place of Birth | Wichita , Kansas |
| Date of death | October 15, 1978 (59 years old) |
| Place of death | Tucson , Arizona |
| Citizenship |  USA |
| Occupation | photographer , photojournalist , military photographer , journalist |
| Children | |
| Awards and prizes | Guggenheim Fellowship Gold Medal of Robert Capa ( 1974 ) |
Smith was born in 1918 in the city of Wichita ( Kansas , USA ). After graduating from school in 1936 , he began taking photographs for the Eagle and Beacon newspapers. He later moved to New York and got a job at Newsweek newspaper, where he worked from 1937 to 1938. [1] There he quickly became famous for his pursuit of excellence and recognizable style. Subsequently, he was dismissed from this publication for refusing to use medium format cameras and in 1939 got a job at Life Magazine , where he used a 35-mm camera.
During World War II, Smith was a photojournalist at Ziff-Davis Publishing , and later Life Magazine . He was at the forefront of the American offensive on Japan . In Okinawa, he was wounded by mortar fire. After treatment, he continued to work for Life. In subsequent years, Smith worked hard on photographs for this magazine, because he wanted to end the generally accepted attitude to photography as a simple illustration for text [1] . In 1950, he was sent to cover elections in England . Despite the fact that the editors of Life reacted negatively to the Labor Party , Smith expressed his sympathy for Clement Attlee in his report . As a result, the editors published only a small part of his photographs.
In 1955, Smith left Life due to disagreements about how Life used his photo essays about Albert Schweitzer and went to work at the Magnum photo agency , where he worked until 1959 [1] . There he began work on a documentary project on Pittsburgh , which included a number of photo essays. Over the following years, Eugene used books as a kind of suitable medium for publishing his photographs and could fully control their presentation [1] .
In 1978, due to complications related to drugs and alcohol , Eugene Smith passed away.
William Eugene Smith Foundation
In 1980, the William Eugene Smith Fund was established, which annually rewards photographers for achievements in the field of " humanistic photography."
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Photographs of the 20th century. Ludwig Museum in Cologne / responsible = per. from English A.A. Sosinova. - ATS Publishing House, 2008. - ISBN 978-5-17-047116-4 .