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Photo Don Getsug
W. Eugene Smith
Photographer

William Eugene Smith was born in 1918 in Wichita, Kansas. He took his first photographs at the age of 15 for two local newspapers. In 1936, Smith entered Notre Dame University in Wichita, where a special photographic scholarship was created for him. A year later he left the university and went to New York City, and after studying with Helene Sanders at the New York Institute of Photography. In 1937, he began working for News-Week (later Newsweek). He was fired for refusing to use medium-format cameras and joined the Black Star agency as a freelancer.

Smith worked as a war correspondent for Flying magazine (1943-44), and a year later for LIFE. He followed the island-hopping American offensive against Japan and suffered severe injuries while simulating battle conditions for Parade, which required him to undergo surgery for the next two years.

Once recuperated, Eugene Smith worked for LIFE again between 1947 and 1955, before resigning to join Magnum as an associate. In 1957, he became a full member of Magnum. Smith was fanatically dedicated to his mission as a photographer. Because of this dedication, he was often regarded by editors as ‘troublesome’.

A year after he moved to Tucson, to teach at the University of Arizona, Smith died of a stroke. His archives are held at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona.

Today, Smith’s legacy lives on through the W. Eugene Smith Fund to promote ‘humanistic photography’, founded in 1980, which awards photographers for exceptional accomplishments in the field.

[Magnum Photos]

W. Eugene Smith
Photographer

William Eugene Smith was born in 1918 in Wichita, Kansas. He took his first photographs at the age of 15 for two local newspapers. In 1936, Smith entered Notre Dame University in Wichita, where a special photographic scholarship was created for him. A year later he left the university and went to New York City, and after studying with Helene Sanders at the New York Institute of Photography. In 1937, he began working for News-Week (later Newsweek). He was fired for refusing to use medium-format cameras and joined the Black Star agency as a freelancer.

Smith worked as a war correspondent for Flying magazine (1943-44), and a year later for LIFE. He followed the island-hopping American offensive against Japan and suffered severe injuries while simulating battle conditions for Parade, which required him to undergo surgery for the next two years.

Once recuperated, Eugene Smith worked for LIFE again between 1947 and 1955, before resigning to join Magnum as an associate. In 1957, he became a full member of Magnum. Smith was fanatically dedicated to his mission as a photographer. Because of this dedication, he was often regarded by editors as ‘troublesome’.

A year after he moved to Tucson, to teach at the University of Arizona, Smith died of a stroke. His archives are held at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona.

Today, Smith’s legacy lives on through the W. Eugene Smith Fund to promote ‘humanistic photography’, founded in 1980, which awards photographers for exceptional accomplishments in the field.

[Magnum Photos]

RELATED ARTICLES
Our 6th Year Anniversary
ARTPIL / Prescription .141
We are rounding out our fifth year with nearly 3 million visits strong. A very exciting journey it has been, indeed.
+
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This landmark exhibition celebrates the 70th anniversary of Magnum Photos, founded by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Seymour and...
+
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Mar 14 – Sep 2, 2019
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+
New Year / 2019
ARTPIL / Prescription .077
2018 comes to an end, we can almost hear the fireworks. Let our solitude be a period of self...
+
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70 year Anniversary
Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family...
+
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Published in 1965, Dave Heath's book captured the zeitgeist in the manner of a photographic protest song. His photography...
+
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After returning from years of war coverage, van Agtmael tries to piece together the memory, identity, race, class, and...
+
W. Eugene Smith Photography Grant
Deadline May 31, 2018
Established in 1978, the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is presented annually to a photographer whose past...
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  • Skin In The Game
    Sep 14, 2023 – Jan 7, 2024
    KW Institute for Contemporary Art
    Berlin, Germany
    Skin In The Game presents seminal prototypes from the personal archives of internationally acclaimed artists, dating back to the 1970s and crossing over into the present. The exhibits include experiments never previously shown, from paintings to sculptures, to banners, video performances, photographs, collages, drawings, books, and concept notes. The works focus on that moment of professional and existential emancipation when these artists threw their skin in the game, and gave their all to art. (more…)