After finishing a surgery that lasted until 2 AM, Dr. Ceriani stands exhausted in the hospital kitchen with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. “The nurses,” LIFE noted, “constantly admonish him to relax and rest, but because they are well aware that he cannot, they keep a potful of fresh coffee simmering for him at all hours.” Eugene Smith’s empathy as a photographer, as well as his his capacity for capturing on film the tumult of emotions endured by men and women under duress, were hallmarks of his work and continue to astound and influence photographers to this day. In 1979, the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund was founded to support those working in the profoundly humanistic style of photography to which Smith dedicated his life and his art.

•  19 January 2012  •  View comments