Oct 15, 2015 - Sale 2393

Sale 2393 - Lot 154

Price Realized: $ 6,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
SMITH, W. EUGENE (1918-1978)
"Nurse Midwife (Maude Callen)." Silver print, 8 1/2x6 1/2 inches (21.6x16.5 cm.), with Smith's credit, copyright, and notations, all in Leslie Teicholz's hand, in ink, on verso. 1951; printed circa 1970
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Smith's photo-essay about the remarkable South Carolina nurse and midwife, Maude Callen, appeared in LIFE magazine's December 1951 issue. Twenty of Smith's images appeared over twelve pages. The story was immediately hailed by readers as "one of the greatest pieces of photojournalism seen in years."

Callen's territory was 400 square miles in the rural South where, as LIFE put it, she served as 'doctor, dietician, psychologist, bail-goer and friend' to thousands of impoverished families. As a result of Smith's feature, thousands of dollars in donations were sent to Mrs. Cullen, who used the monies to open a clinic.
W. Eugene Smith, Master of the Photographic Essay, cat. no. 16:101.