Gene Smith's Sink: A Wide-angle View
by Sam Stephenson /
2017 / English / EPUB
7.7 MB Download
An incisive biography of the prolific photo-essayist W. Eugene
Smith
An incisive biography of the prolific photo-essayist W. Eugene
Smith
Famously unabashed, W. Eugene Smith was photography’s most
celebrated humanist. As a photo essayist at
Famously unabashed, W. Eugene Smith was photography’s most
celebrated humanist. As a photo essayist atLife
Life magazine
in the 1940s and ’50s, he established himself as an intimate
chronicler of human culture. His photographs of war and disaster,
villages and metropolises, doctors and midwives, revolutionized
the role of images in journalism, transforming photography for
decades to come.
magazine
in the 1940s and ’50s, he established himself as an intimate
chronicler of human culture. His photographs of war and disaster,
villages and metropolises, doctors and midwives, revolutionized
the role of images in journalism, transforming photography for
decades to come.
When Smith died in 1978, he left behind eighteen dollars in the
bank and forty-four thousand pounds of archives. He was only
fifty-nine, but he was flat worn-out. His death certificate read
“stroke,” but, as was said of the immortal jazzman Charlie
Parker, Smith died of “everything,” from drug and alcohol benders
to weeklong work sessions with no sleep.
When Smith died in 1978, he left behind eighteen dollars in the
bank and forty-four thousand pounds of archives. He was only
fifty-nine, but he was flat worn-out. His death certificate read
“stroke,” but, as was said of the immortal jazzman Charlie
Parker, Smith died of “everything,” from drug and alcohol benders
to weeklong work sessions with no sleep.
Lured by the intoxicating trail of people that emerged from
Smith’s stupefying archive, Sam Stephenson began a quest to trace
his footsteps. In
Lured by the intoxicating trail of people that emerged from
Smith’s stupefying archive, Sam Stephenson began a quest to trace
his footsteps. InGene Smith’s Sink
Gene Smith’s Sink, Stephenson merges
traditional biography with rhythmic digressions to revive Smith’s
life and legacy. Traveling across twenty-nine states, Japan, and
the Pacific, Stephenson profiles a lively cast of characters,
including the playwright Tennessee Williams, to whom Smith
likened himself; the avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage, with
whom he once shared a Swiss chalet; the artist Mary Frank, who
was married to his friend Robert Frank; the jazz pianists
Thelonious Monk and Sonny Clark, whose music was taped by Smith
in his loft; and a series of obscure caregivers who helped keep
Smith on his feet. The distillation of twenty years of research,
, Stephenson merges
traditional biography with rhythmic digressions to revive Smith’s
life and legacy. Traveling across twenty-nine states, Japan, and
the Pacific, Stephenson profiles a lively cast of characters,
including the playwright Tennessee Williams, to whom Smith
likened himself; the avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage, with
whom he once shared a Swiss chalet; the artist Mary Frank, who
was married to his friend Robert Frank; the jazz pianists
Thelonious Monk and Sonny Clark, whose music was taped by Smith
in his loft; and a series of obscure caregivers who helped keep
Smith on his feet. The distillation of twenty years of research,Gene Smith’s Sink
Gene Smith’s Sink is an unprecedented look into the
photographer’s potent legacy and the subjects around him.
is an unprecedented look into the
photographer’s potent legacy and the subjects around him.