Based on interviews with more than 70 of the world's leading photojournalists and extensively documented, Chasing the News, Capturing History offers unique insights into an era when photojournalism had its greatest impact on news coverage. Elizabeth Nakahara's journey begins with a chance encounter with W. Eugene Smith, acknowledged as the father of the modern photographic story and considered to be one of the greatest photographers of the 20th Century. A friend in Tokyo suggests that Nakahara visit an intriguing American living on the coast of Japan. Nakahara knocks on Smith's door in Minimata. Smith invites her in, and she spends the next few weeks in his company. Smith's photographs of Tomoko, her body painfully crippled by mercury poisoning from industrial pollution, being bathed by her adoring mother, will emerge as one of the most powerful images of his career, the photographic equivalent of Michelangelo's magnificent statue of the Madonna della Pietà in the Vatican. The encounter with Smith inspires Nakahara to learn more about the photographers who shape our vision of the world. The quest takes her to a civil war in Beirut, violent student protests in Korea, turmoil in Haiti, and the political struggles in Washington. Along the way, photographers under fire explain in their own words why they feel driven to record what they see. It is a compelling story that explores how photographers engage with the news, and one woman's search to understand the men and women who risk their lives to show us the reality that shapes our future.
