Marine Drinking, Battle for Saipan

A native of Wichita, Kansas, William Eugene Smith began his career photographing for local newspapers when he was fifteen and eventually became one of the most renowned photojournalists of the 20th century. The pictures he made as a correspondent in the Pacific theater during World War II are some of the most powerful war images ever produced. This photograph of a U.S. Marine on Saipan, for example, became a lasting icon for World War II, and for the horror and heroism of war in general. Smith was badly injured by mortar fire on Okinawa just months after making this image. After nearly two years of recovery, he devoted the rest of his career to photographic essays with a humanitarian bent.