eugenesmith

W. Eugene Smith: Father of the Photo Essay

Last week, I talked about the photo essay “Country Doctor” by W. Eugene Smith, and today I would like to focus more on his life and photography in general.

W. Eugene Smith Considered Darkroom Work to be 90% of a Photo’s Creation Process

American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith was widely praised for his devotion to photography and for pioneering the use of the photo essay to tell stories. He is said to have "created at least fifty images so powerful that they have changed the perception of our history."

There's one little fact about how Smith worked that may be of great interest to photographers these days, especially as debates rage on regarding the merits of "straight out of camera" (SOOC. i.e. non-Photoshopped) photography: Smith believed that most of what makes a photo is done in the darkroom rather than in the camera.