Сообщение Pittsburgh photo essay by W. Eugene Smith (18 pictures) появились сначала на Old Pictures.
]]>
View at Monongahela River from Mount Washington.
When W. Eugene Smith set his foot on Pittsburgh land in March 1955, he had made a reputation of edgy, conflict, and at the same time outstanding photographer. Smith was very well known for his photo coverage of the WW2 battles in the Pacific region, bright reportage from Franco’s Spain, and of course, his best-known photo essay ‘A country doctor,’ that was published in Life magazine.
Pittsburgh photo essay became a significant chapter in the life story of W. Eugene Smith.
Bird-point view at the bridges of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Gene made a bold move before the Pittsburgh trip and left the Life with a scandal. This resignation left him penniless, Smith drank a lot, and his wife took their four kids and left a genius alone. Well, not so alone, as Smith’s mistress Margery Lewis gave birth to their son in Philadelphia.
This problematic life situation pushed W. Eugene Smith to the collaboration with a writer Stefan Lorant, who was looking for a photo set to illustrate his book about Pittsburgh. Smith didn’t have any interest in this city-of-steel adventure, but he had a great need for money. He was paid $500 in advance (of total $1,200) and hoped that this assignment would take two weeks at max. Instead, W. Eugene Smith spent over a year in Pittsburgh and ended it up with “the finest set of photographs he had ever produced.”
Steelworkers. The City of Pittsburgh. 1955.
Stefan Lorant provided Smith with shooting script with 25 chapters like i“Steel industry,” “Nationalities and their clubs,” ‘City Streets’ “Libraries,” “Life on the river,” “Life in parks,” and “Department stores.” W. Eugene Smith did all of those but in his way. Lorant recalled that he never saw life in Pittsburgh as grim and desperate, as in Smith’s pictures. In other words, W. Eugene Smith did again what he did the best: set the fire of conflict upon the editorial control over his photography.
Pittsburgh always was a city of molten steel.
Crime, he photoed
On May 20, Smith was brutally robbed. He lost five cameras, ten lenses, a box of film, and other miscellaneous stuff. About 500 images were stolen. Gene was searching through pawnshops and landfills looking for his equipment. Finally, he collected two of his stolen Leicas at a pawnshop in East Liberty for $40. Robbers used one of them to make some images of themselves, and Eugene Smith found those films; police used the evidence to arrest later and convict them. W. Eugene Smith sadly admitted that his Pittsburgh project lost its half.
Overall, W. Eugene Smith took 17,000 images in Pittsburgh. The book Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City included 64 of them. Photos didn’t reflect the Lorant’s editorial narrative but Smith’s perception of the city of molten steel. He saw the city in contrasts that he stressed in his images: water and land, steel and grass, rich and poor.
Smith didn’t like to talk about the Pittsburgh project. He saw it as a defeat, as it was incomplete, but also as the most exceptional set of pictures he had ever created.
That’s what W. Eugene Smith used to say until he completed his photo story of Minamata.
W. Eugene Smith in his workroom
Smoking steelworker
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. 1955
Pittsburgh Screw and Bolt–Woman Machine Operator
National Tube Company works, U.S. Steel Corporation, McKeesport, and Union Railroad Bridge over the Monongahela River,
Mill Man Loading Coiled Steel, 1955
Left: Girl leaning on a parking meter Shadyside Chamber of Commerce carnival Walnut Street. Right: House constructions
City Housing, 1955
Children playing at Colwell and Pride Streets, Hill District, 1955
Steelworker Pittsburg 1955, by W. Eugene Smith
Dance of the Flaming Coke
Сообщение Pittsburgh photo essay by W. Eugene Smith (18 pictures) появились сначала на Old Pictures.
]]>Сообщение The brightest photos by W. Eugene Smith появились сначала на Old Pictures.
]]>
W. Eugene Smith
William Eugene Smith dreamt of aviation, and perhaps he would have become a good pilot. But once, he took their family camera to picture the airplanes, and … And then the aircraft receded into the background. Instead of piloting the planes, W. Eugene Smith learned to take a beautiful photo of the world around him.
William Eugene Smith was born in the United States, Kansas, in 1918. His first photographic experiments brought Eugene among newspaper editors. Smith even had a job offer on a photo reporter position. And maybe it was the first of many times in his life when he didn’t accept any advice and did it his way: one day he told his family that his skill is insufficient, and his works are trash and burnt them all. He shocked relatives and close friends, as everyone who saw Eugene’s images of that period was simply amazed by his talent. His skill was recognized overseas when he was invited to study photography at the University of Notre Dame. The administration of the university went ballistic and designed a unique individual program for teaching Smith the art of photography. That’s how they treated his talent. This effort didn’t help, and William Eugene Smith decided to continue his photo career in New York, where he joined the Newsweek magazine.
Read more: “The Critic”: a story behind plus more photos of Weegee.
In 1942, W. Eugene Smith became a war correspondent and spent most of the next three years covering the Pacific War.
Calling for Help, Okinawa, 1945
His most dramatic photographs were taken during the invasion of Okinawa in April 1945.
Eugene also contributed to Life magazine, which paid a lot of editorial attention to photo stories. His famous ‘Country doctor’ image was created during the editorial assignment to a small town in Colorado. Smith’s photographs were in high demand, but when a photographer had to choose between creativity and financial well-being, he never doubted for a second and terminated his job contracts.
William Eugene Smith worked for Ziff-Davis Publishing when World War II broke out. In 1942 he departed to the war action area and photographed combatants until 1945. Smith learned well the critical thing of war photography: if you want your images to be good enough, you should be close enough. His Pacific photo assignment ended up with numerous excellent historic photos of the most significant battles of WW2. W Eugene Smith used his natural empathy to find the most heart-touching scenes and capture the feelings of the combatants. The brightest result is his picture ‘Soldier holding baby’, that became the first world-famous image by a photographer. He signed a new contract with Life magazine shortly before the end of WW2 but then was severely wounded. A terrible shell explosion injured his jaw and put his career on a two years pause. Smith made it through the 32 surgeries!
Crimean war in 35 photos by Roger Fenton
Nevertheless, Eugene takes a brilliant picture of “A Walk to the Paradise Garden” during the rehabilitation period. At this time, he was immersed in the warm atmosphere of love in his family .. And again, Eugene Smith used to say that this image is “just average picture” and preferred other works to it. And yet, he felt misunderstood, just like with a series of Pittsburgh reports. He couldn’t select two hundred pictures about the life of the (that he had to send according to the contract), from almost seventeen thousand of images that he made in the city. Smith had a shooting script with 25 chapters like i “Steel industry,” “Nationalities and their clubs,” ‘City Streets’ “Libraries,” “Life on the river,” “Life in parks,” and “Department stores.” W. Eugene Smith did all of those but in his way. Lorant recalled that he never saw life in Pittsburgh as grim and desperate, as in Smith’s pictures.
W. Eugene Smith: “A Walk to the Paradise Garden”
Pittsburgh project led the Smith family to serious financial problems. The helping hand came from the Magnum Agency agreed to collaborate with Eugene Smith even despite his conflict nature.
But money talks never mattered a lot to the Eugene Smith. His main goal was the work itself. He said this in an interview in 1957. He did not care about disagreements with the editors, in particular with the Life magazine, which he left in 1954. W Eugene Smith did not bother about the risks and dangers of some projects. For example, in 1971, he went to Japan to cover the issue of mercury poisoning in villages on the coast of Minamata Bay. His eyesight and overall health were damaged. Nevertheless, the album “Minamata”, was published in 1975 and brought the recognition from readers and experts around the world.
Photojournalist William Eugene Smith paid a high price for his unruliness. And his most famous works are rebellious too, just like their author.
Steelworker Pittsburg 1955, by W. Eugene Smith
Metallurgy worker from Pittsburgh, 1955
JazzLoft photo by W. Eugene Smith
Dance of the Flaming Coke
Untitled photo by W. Eugene Smith, 1955
Maude – Delivery
The best-known picture by Smith: Country Doctor, 1948. The full story of this image.
Pittsburgh stories, 1955
Untitled photo by W. Eugene Smith
Two in love, photo by W. Eugene Smith
Okinawa kid, 1945
Pacific war by W. Eugene Smith, 1944
The scream of war, 1944
Cargo received, 1945
KKK event, 1935
Kids playing baseball, 1935
Guardia Civil, Spain 1950
The Spinner
The Wake, 1950
Untitled, 1954
Сообщение The brightest photos by W. Eugene Smith появились сначала на Old Pictures.
]]>