Schweitzer in Africa
Artist
W. Eugene Smith
(American, 1918 - 1978)
Date1954
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall: 10 5/8 x 15 1/2 inches (26.99 x 39.37 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2005.37.319
SignedSigned on image recto, lower left, in black pen;
On mount verso, lower left, in pencil: "© W. Eugene Smith".
Inscribednone
Markingsnone
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of a mustachioed man wearing glasses while seated at a desk. He looks down and holds a pencil in his right hand. A desk lamp illuminates the dark room.Gallery LabelBetween 1947 and 1954, W. Eugene Smith created some of Life magazine’s most memorable photo essays. This photograph was part of the series "A Man of Mercy" (1954), which documented the work of Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer worked in French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon) as a missionary and doctor. He had won the Nobel Peace Prize two years before Smith took this photograph.
The editors at Life would not grant Smith editorial authority over the final published essay, prompting Smith to leave the magazine just after the essay was published.
Copyright© The Heirs of W. Eugene Smith
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Unknown
ca. 1865
2017.54.21
