The world was reeling from the aftermath of World War II when a photojournalist chose to ‘obsessively’ document its impacts: W. Eugene Smith. One of the great photojournalists of the 20th century, Smith was one of the few luminaries who shaped photo stories in the way we know them today. Country Doctor, a landmark photo essay, not only catapulted Smith to fame but also illustrated the power of the young art form. In his later years, Smith was committed to documenting the human condition in all its forms. As a result, W. Eugene Smith’s final essay, before his demise in 1978 from a heart stroke, continues to be the most influential series of all time: Minamata.
Lead image of W. Eugene Smith’s Minamata is courtesy of Bauman Rare Books.
What Happened in Minamata?
For several years, Chisso Corporation, a chemical factory in the quaint city of Minamata, Japan, discreetly released industrial wastewater into the city’s bay and Shiranui Sea. The waste contained methylmercury, a deadly chemical that is known to affect the nervous system, which was consumed by marine life. Since seafood is a staple in the country, the toxins gradually impacted thousands, which led to severe cases of mercury poisoning. Despite such a disaster continuing for three decades, neither the government nor the corporation lifted a single finger to prevent its spread.
In the meantime, symptoms such as numbness in the hands and feet, muscle weakness, peripheral vision loss, and deterioration of speech and hearing became prominent in individuals. In an extreme case, one would suffer insanity, paralysis, coma, and even death within weeks of the commencement of the signs. Those who were pregnant during this period gave birth to children affected by extensive cerebral damage and signs identical to those impacted by cerebral palsy.
Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes – just sometimes – one photograph or a group of them can lure our senses into awareness. Much depends upon the viewer; in some, photographs can summon enough emotion to be a catalyst to thought.
W. Eugene Smith
According to The New York Times, the company even suppressed the research that “pointed to (its) recklessness.” But when the cases piled up to the breaking point in 1968, the government officially issued a statement recognizing mercury poisoning as “Minamata disease.” Thus began the struggle for victims’ compensation and a fight for justice.
W. Eugene Smith’s Risky Quest to Give Voice to the Voiceless
The year was 1971, when a member of the Minamata movement, who was familiar with W. Eugene Smith’s work, contacted the photographer. Interested in the city, Smith and his then-wife, Aileen Mioko Smith, relocated to Minamata with their assistant, Takeshi Ishikawa. What was to be a three-month visit became an intense, challenging, and emotive documentation for three years. “Of course it was very sensitive, we didn’t go barging in,” Aileen, who co-authored the project and the subsequent photo book, told Magnum Photos. “We lived there, got to know the people, and photographed. The victims were receptive; the feeling was: ‘We want the world to know’.”
W. Eugene Smith and his wife chose to rent a residence close to one of the victim’s houses. Gradually, the Smiths became close to the families during their conversations and travel. Smith’s intimacy with the families was a powerful element of his photography. This relationship and understanding also led Aileen to withhold the publication of an image called Tomoko and Mother in the Bath. A searing photograph, it portrayed Tomoko, a child deformed due to mercury poisoning, being bathed by his mother Ryoko. Ryoko’s soft and loving expression contrasts starkly with Tomoko’s blankness. It’s a photograph that will certainly make you feel sorrowful and enraged at the greediness of capitalists.
The first word I would strike from the annals of journalism is the word objective.
W. Eugene Smith
Although the photograph is now available online, Aileen’s decision then was out of respect for her subjects, whom both the Smiths had grown to love. If you glance through the book’s pages, you will see many photographs illustrating the emotional connection between the photographers and the individuals before their lens. With each quiet, vulnerable moment, one can see the emotional toll diseases took—not only on the victims but also on those who document earnestly.
While W. Eugene Smith and Aileen went to speak to Chisso about the aftermath of their heinous crimes a year after their arrival, they were met with reluctance and violence. The latter clash was so severe for Eugene that it induced temporary blindness in one of the eyes and blackouts when he lifted his hand. During this time, Eugene’s other injuries and ailments from WWII began to affect him, too. Yet, W. Euegene Smith continued photographing Minamata to portray the victims’ strength and humanness. Perhaps his own ailments were forgotten during the heartbreaking encounters with the victims and their families.
A Legacy to Remember
The photo essay, published in 1972 in LIFE, became a touring exhibit to prove the power of the victim’s resilience. Moreover, their gradual win of the lawsuit against Chisso also helped to spread awareness about the preventable tragedy. Three years later, in 1975, the Smiths published the book, Minamata, with Eugene’s words revealing what the project meant for him: “a severe warning… the beginning of a new industrial revolution… It is certainly going to condition minds and set precedents that will have repercussions throughout the world.”
And each time I pressed the shutter release it was a shouted condemnation hurled with the hope that the picture might survive through the years, with the hope that they might echo through the minds of men in the future – causing them caution and remembrance and realization.
W. Eugene SMith
While it has been decades since the photo essay was published, the images continue to live in the memories of not just the victims but anyone who came or will come across them. Perhaps the best part about Minamata is that W. Eugene Smith’s hope to change the evils of the world through photography continues to echo in the determination of emerging photographers even today.