W. Eugene Smith: Photography Made Difficult.

• Author: Rothenberg, Robert S.

Among the great photographers of the 20th century, W. Eugene Smith proved the master of the photo essay. His pictures, primarily featured in Life magazine, penetrated beneath the surface of a story, cutting through to reveal humanity at its best and worst, turning photojournalism into an art. Smith was a tortured perfectionist, agonizing over his work to the exclusion of all else. Like many an artist, his obsession resulted in magnificent images while destroying the man.

This fascinating video casts actor Peter Reigert as Smith, with dialogue excerpted from his diaries, tape recordings, and other papers. This personifies the photographer and, by placing the actor in the setting Smith shot in, puts the photo essays in perspective. As Reigert narrates and pores over prints of Smith's pictures, the award-winning stories unfold: the lives of a Colorado doctor and a black southern midwife; a Spanish village under the yoke of Francisco Franco and the fascists; Dr. Albert Schweitzer's African mission; victims of mercury poisoning in a Japanese fishing village; and World War II battles in the South Pacific, where Smith was severely wounded when he insisted on shooting within yards of the front...