The Life and Work of W. Eugene Smith

Con Artist Collective is proud to host John Milisenda's talk on Eugene Smith "The Concerned Photographer" and latest installation of Sunday School, a series of artist-led meet-ups, workshops, and screenings at the Collective's Lower East Side gallery space. 

During the 1940’s and 1950’s W. Eugene Smith produced photographic essays for Life Magazine. Smith covered battles in the Pacific during WWII; the devastation, carnage and brutality affected him deeply. He experienced a metanoia, a spiritual awakening that changed him and resulted in his seeing the world differently. He sought truth in his photography - his essays considered to be the highest quality photo journalism, used as a standard to judge others’ work. Smith was looked upon as a hero. Over the years critics have denigrated Smith’s work calling it propaganda and stating that his images-were set up and dishonest, questioning his motives and integrity. At what point does society turn a seeker of truth into a propagandist?

John Milisenda’s photograhy has appeared in over 150 shows and many publications including Smithsonian and the New York Times. His work is in the permanent collections on Brooklyn Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and Bibliotheque Nationale. He has taught basic photography,The Zone sytem and Photographic chemistry at Drexel University, The New School, and Parson’s School of Design. He is currently working on a photography book of his family, a cross section of 50 years of work.