Tomoko in her bath, Minamata, Japan, 1972

William S. Johnson, began to work with W. Eugene Smith in the last year of the photographer's life after his archive arrived in Tucson at the Center for Creative Photography. Johnson helped Smith to begin to organize the archive. After Smith's death he continued at the Center where he authored a number of publications about Smith and his work, most notably W. Eugene Smith: A Chronological Bibliography 1934-1980 and W. Eugene Smith: Master of the Photographic Essay. The Minamata photographs and papers were then being held at the Center, but they belonged to Aileen Smith and were not part of the contract between Smith and the Center, and so were handled differently. Tomoko in her bath was printed during the period when Gene and Aileen were actively participating in the protest movement against the mercury poisoning in Japan, producing prints for multiple exhibitions and photo essays for publication both in Japan and around the world while attempting to raise public awareness of the mercury pollution and to influence public opinion about the pending court case. Johnson sorted and organized the Minamata materials for Aileen and in return she gave him this fine print from her collection.