Photo: Courtesy of University of Chicago Press
Dream Street: W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh Project from the University of Chicago Press
In the mid-1950s Smith was a brilliant, if at times mercurial photographer. He worked for Newsweek and Life magazines, covered the Pacific theater during World War II (he was seriously injured in Okinawa), and produced acclaimed photo essays about Deleitosa, a village in Spain, and Albert Schweitzer.
After being hired by historian Stefan Lorant, Smith traveled to Western Pennsylvania from 1955 to 1957 to capture 100 prints for what would become Pittsburgh: Story of an American City. In total, Smith produced approximately 17,000 negatives during his trips to Pittsburgh.
“I think it was just the time of his life where he was ready for a project of massive proportions,” says Sam Stephenson, author of Dream Street: W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh Project (The University of Chicago Press). “I think it would have happened if he had gone to Cincinnati or Chicago or somewhere in Europe or Asia. But the fact that it was Pittsburgh, I think he was lucky because it was such an interesting visual place. And we're lucky today that he documented the city in this manner.”
Stephenson joins writer Ross Gay (who wrote the forward to Dream Street) on Fri., Nov. 17 for a virtual discussion hosted by Riverstone Books. The event is presented as part of the Association of University Presses’ Speak Up series.
Born in Kansas, Smith started selling photos to Wichita newspapers when he was 14. He earned a special photography scholarship to the University of Notre Dame but dropped out of school after a year to pursue a photography career in New York.
Stephenson says that, while Smith’s talent emerged when he was young, it was his indefatigable work ethic that made him a success.
“He worked really hard. I guess you could say he was a prodigy, but his skill came from practice,” says Stephenson, who authored other books about Smith, including The Jazz Loft Project Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957–1965, and Gene Smith's Sink: A Wide-Angle View. “His mother had a darkroom in their house, and he started really early. He identified photography, photojournalism, as his calling from a very young age.”
What’s striking about many of the photos in Dream Street is the apparent intimacy between Smith and his subjects. Some images, including that of a young woman illuminated by the lights of Texaco station while leaning on a parking meter, and one of an actress waiting to walk onstage, feel like stolen moments. Smith also had a special affinity for children, and numerous photographs of Pittsburgh neighborhood kids fill Dream Street.
Stephenson notes that Smith would often spend weeks at a location before taking a single shot and had a talent for engendering trust by fitting into neighborhoods.
“I think it was charm and warmth,” Stephenson says. “People liked him a lot. He had a real talent for blending into situations without being obtrusive. I think that was something he had from birth – I don’t know where he got it. He could be extremely difficult in his life, but when he was out photographing, that was not one of the times when he was difficult. He had a way about him that allowed him to get close to people.”
Smith’s equanimity often ended when he was finished shooting. There were contentious relationships with many employers, including Lorant, with whom Smith fought for control of his images. He railed against any limitations put on his work as he aspired to greatness (Stephenson explains that Smith wanted to work on the same level as Rilke or James Joyce, Charlie Chaplin or William Faulkner).
Stephenson adds that finances also presented a barrier for Smith. “Back then there were negatives and prints. Today, you could make as many photos as you want because digital is so much more inexpensive. But back then, there were hard materials being used, and it was very uncommon for someone to use the kind of voluminous artistic approach that he used in the field of photojournalism.”
Overall, Stephenson believes that Smith's chosen art form may have hindered his aspirations.
“He might have chosen the wrong medium,” Stephenson says. “If he’d have been a painter, it would have been fine. If he had been a jazz musician, it would have been fine. Even a writer – some writers were known to write so much. But photographers just were not expected to produce the volume of material that he did."
Sam Stephenson in conversation with Ross Gay. 7-8 p.m., Fri., Nov. 17. Virtual event. Free. RSVP required. riverstonebookstore.com
