W Eugene Smith

Steelworker, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1955 by W. Eugene Smith. [1280x926]

• introduced to photography by his mother and after his father committed suicide he became obsessed 
• at a young age a local newspaper hired him
• wanted pictures to show the terrible aspects of war
• photo jounalist 
• he had strict ethical values he would not break
• photographed images of suffering 
• He photographed 26 carrier combat missions and 13 invasions 
• he immersed himself in his subjects (unlike most other photojournalists)
• he resigned from Life magazine because he wanted more rights over his images
• he did photo essays (one was over 11,000 photos of Pittsburgh

Can a single photograph affect the world for change?

I think that one photograph can be extremely impactful and make people think or change their ways. Say for instance a graphic image of a war is released to the public. People would start protesting the war and possibly make a change to stop the war. I do think there is a limit to how much an image can change the world because not everyone will see that image or care or decide to make a change because of the seeing that image. Large problems cannot be solved with one picture but they can be improved and work it toward a solution.