Documenting Minimata with W. Eugene Smith

[mcfitz]

From Kyoto Journal, an interview with Kyoto activist and photographer Aileen Mioko Smith.

https://www.kyotojournal.org/conversations/aileen-mioko-smith-pt1/

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Very interesting. Thanks for the link.

 

[Don_ih]

Worth noting from that interview is how different she is from her portrayal in the film, which uses her as a way to get Gene Smith to Japan and almost nothing more. If you read the book, you become very aware that she was pretty much an equal partner for that project. But movies need to make individual heroes, don't they?

 

[CMoore]

Why did that second lay marry him.?
Was it just a legal thing or did she really fall in love with him for a short time.?
Not judging anybody for anything, just curious.
By most accounts Mr Smith was a bit eccentric and "Difficult" to live with.

 

[Jim Jones]

For us who have a copy of the book Minamata by Gene and Aileen Smith (1975), this is a valuable supplement. For much more information on this great, but tortured, photographer, I recommend W. Eugene Smith: Shadow and Substance (600 pages, 1989) by Jim Hughes. Both books are available online. They are not cheap, especially Minamata. The video is more available, although not nearly as authoritative as both books.