Photographer of the Week: W. Eugene Smith
William Eugene Smith William Eugene Smith was born in 1918 in Wichita, Kansas. He took his first photographs at the age of 15 for two local newspapers. He actually entered the Notre Dame University where a special scholarship was made for him and then he went to New York a year later. He was there a while before he was fired for refusing to use a specific camera. This continued with many jobs as he was quite hard to work with. Eugene Smith's "claim to fame" was his photo essays. They stood out because they had a strong sense of empathy and social conscience. He photographed civilians' reactions to whatever was happening and it would have a strong sense of truth in them. His photographs always had a purpose, and for the most part, it was to bring awareness to something. This is really ironic considering the fact that he was a colossal asshole who was very self-sabotaging and was very hard to work with. He had a difficult time with editors and he refused to allow any...