First UK edition of Minamata: A Warning To The World by W. Eugene Smith and Eileen M. Smith. First impression. Medium format hardback in near fine condition. Some minor shelf wear and toning to the dust jacket and toning to the very outer edges of the pages only.
About
When Smith arrived in Minamata in 1971he had already covered the bloody invasions of Tara-wa, Guam and Iwo Jima asLIFEsWWII correspondent and had produced genre-defining photo essays. But the storymade in Minamata would be his last, and arguably most influential, work. Smithbecame interested in traveling to the city after he was contacted by amember of the Minamata movement. He and his partner Aileen Mioko Smith packed up Smiths loft in New York, travelled to Tokyo and, now married, relocated to Minamata along with their recently recruitedassistant, Takeshi Ishikawa.
The couple planned to stay for three months but ended up staying threeyears. Of course it was very sensitive, we didnt go barging in, saysAileen, who photographed alongside Smith on the project andco-authored the resulting book. We lived there, got to knowthe people, and photographed. The victims were receptive; the feeling was: Wewant the world to know.
