Minamata

[BobGilbody]

I got to watch the film yesterday. Smith is one of my fav photographers. The film is worth watching. It seems some of it is not based on fact but the ideas are there. In the mid 90's I was living in the South Island of NZ. The mobile library stopped at the nearest village. They would get me books from the National Library. Spent a lot of time reading up on Eugene Smith. Forgot most of what I read but I was strongly affected by 'Tomoko in her bath'. Having watched the film I can now look at the photograph and see it 'better'.
Smith took thousands of photographs. From memory he reckoned the negative was only the starting point. He would spend a lot of time producing the print. He only did black and white.
Anyway in my opinion the guy was very gifted. Wonder how many 'favs' he would get in Fickr.
The other photographer I admire is Don McCullin.
Both of them worked in b/w.
Their gift was to see the world in a way I never could. Big difference between knowing how to capture images and how to capture images that make people think.
Just my take on things.

[pschlute]

I am ashamed to say I had not seen the image before. A sad tale, and very refreshing that the family did not wish to "cash in" on the image.

[BobGilbody]

Not knowing [ being aware ] of something is nothing to be ashamed of. It's when you are aware of something and try to convince people it's not there that is a bit iffy.
You might like to read this bit about Don McCullin : https://www.theguardian.com/artandde...digital-images

All the best Bob

This shows that even in the days of film truth was elusive. No political comment intended; as people have said since day one ' everyone does it '. https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/sta...ion-1922-1953/

[rpcrowe]

Eugene Smith was an excellent photojournalist! He is one of my favorites!

[lunaticitizen]

It's a beautiful town now, albeit rather a sleepy one. I made a visit more than 10 years ago, right after my personal pilgrimage to Amakusa, famous for the Shimabara Rebellion.