“Most photographers seem to operate with a pane of glass between themselves and their subjects. They just can’t get inside and know the subject.” – W. Eugene Smith

Documentary photography 

I have chosen to do some more research on Eugene Smith because he is one of the most well known documentary photographers. He’s work  links in with the exam theme truth which is an area I am considering exploring  in my project.

Eugene smith is an American photojournalist photographer he is known for his dedication to projects and ethical standards. He developed photo essays into visual forms. His most famous work includes: World War II photographs were he was on the front line documenting the effects of war, the clinic of Dr Schweitzer in French Equatorial Africa and he joined the Magnum photo agency in 1995 where he began his project on the city of Pittsburgh. Smith began his career by taking photographs for local newspapers.

In January 1972 he was attacked by employees from Chisso Company in Japan near Tokyo in an attempt to stop him from publishing photographs of the effect of Minamata disease. Although he survived this attack his vision in one deteriorated which stopped him from working for a period of time. I think this shows a lot about Eugene’s work and how much he is willing to show the world the reality of some situations. Which could upset quite a few people. I think this links in to a quote from the exam book by TS Elliot which says ‘ Humankind can bear only so much reality…’  I think this situation puts the quote into context. This also brings back the ethics and standards of photography which questions where the line of photographing is and what should and shouldn’t be photographed.

Eugene Smith Magum photographs-  http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL5347YF

Eugene Smith also produced a famous photo essay about the Country Doctor which is something I looked at for my personal study. From this I found that Eugene photographed the Dr’s  work life and personal life with his wife and children as well as his patients and surroundings therefore he spends a lot of time photographing his subjects and gets to know them well so he is able to produce photographs with an intimate perceptive which gives the viewer more of an incite and allows them to make a connection to them.