W. Eugene Smith is a master.

W. Eugene Smith, legendary photojournalist, took this photo I decided to blog about. Taken in 1972, this photograph, titled Tomoko Uemura in her Bath, presents the effects of Minamata disease. Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by industrial pullution [in Japan] and some of it's effects are numbness, eyesight loss, tremors, difficulty walking, extreme stabbing pains, lapses of consciousness, severe convulsions, coma and sometimes death. Tomoko Uemura was a victim of Minamata disease, as well as some of her relatives, because of their consumption of polluted fish. I think that this picture is not only disturbing, but is haunting, and is one of the reasons why I admire photographers who show the brutal, honest truth. The photo conveys the difficulties faced by victims of Minamata disease, and how simple things like taking a bath require assistance. I think that the composition and lighting are beautiful, and add to the moodiness of the photograph. This is one of the few photographs that I want to never look at ever again, yet I want to stare it at forever, and that is something that I think the best photographer's out there have the ability to do with their art.