By 1971, American photographer W. Eugene Smith (1918–1978) had become a shadow of his former self, a shell-shocked recluse with a drinking problem who had retreated into the seclusion of his New York studio and home. Smith was alone, surrounded only by the remnants of his career as a world-renowned photojournalist.
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Under the red light of the darkroom bulb Smith’s photographs hung, mementos of the best and worst of humanity. After getting his start in 1939 for Newsweek, Smith began shooting for Life the following year, compiling a compendium of work that made him one of the most influential photojournalist of the twentieth-century. A master of the photo essay, Smith, who became a member of Magnum Photos in 1955, documented war and peace, poverty and beauty in equal part.
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In the 1960s, while Smith risked his life to bear witness to the destruction and salvation of humanity, halfway around the world the Chisso Corporation’s chemical factory was poisoning the fishing village of Minamata, Japan. Between 1932 and 1968, the factory released wastewater contaminated with toxic methylmercury, poisoning the water and sea life consumed by locals. As of 2001, 2,265 people were afflicted with Minamata disease, a neurological disorder that causes muscle weakness, damage to hearing, vision, and speech, as well as insanity, paralysis, coma, and death. The first case was reported in 1956; since then 1,784 have died as a result.
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