1. RobertCapa
1. Robert Capais a name that has for manyyearsbeensynonymouswithwarphotography.
2. Born in Hungaryin 1913 as FriedmannEndre Ernő,Capawas forcedto leave hisnative countryafter
hisinvolvementinanti governmentprotests.Capa hadoriginallywantedtobecome awriter,butafter
hisarrival inBerlinhadfirstfoundworkas a photographer.He laterleftGermanyandmovedtoFrance
due to the rise inNazism.He triedto findworkas a freelance journalistanditwashere that he changed
hisname to RobertCapa, mainlybecause he thoughtitwouldsoundmore American.
3. In 1936, afterthe breakoutof the SpanishCivil war,CapawenttoSpainand itwas here overthe next
three yearsthat he builthisreputationasa war photographer.Itwashere tooin 1936 that he tookone
of hismostfamouspictures,The Deathof a LoyalistSoldier.One of Capa’smostfamousquoteswas'If
your picturesaren'tgoodenough,you're notclose enough.'Andhe tookhisattitude of gettingclose to
the action toan extreme.Hisphotograph,The Deathof a LoyalistSoldierisaprime exampleof thisas
Capa capturesthe verymomentthe soldierfalls.However,manyhave questionedthe authenticityof
thisphotograph,claimingthatitwasstaged.
4. When Worldwar II broke out,Capa wasin New York,buthe wassoon back inEurope coveringthe
war for Life magazine.Some of hismostfamousworkwascreatedon6th June 1944 whenhe swam
ashore withthe firstassaulton OmahaBeach inthe D-Day invasionof Normandy.Capa,armedonlywith
twocameras, tookmore than one hundredphotographsinthe firsthourof the landing,buta mistake in
the darkroomduringthe dryingof the filmdestroyedall buteightframes.Itwasthe imagesfromthese
frameshoweverthatinspiredthe visual styleof StevenSpielberg'sOscarwinningmovie‘SavingPrivate
Ryan’.WhenLife magazine publishedthe photographs,theyclaimedthattheywere slightlyoutof focus,
and Capa laterusedthisas the title of hisautobiographical account of the war.
5. Capa’s private life wasnolessdramatic.He wasfriendtomany of Hollywood’sdirectors,actorsand
actresses.In1943 he fell inlove withthe wife of actorJohnAustin.Hisaffairwithherlasteduntil the
endof the war and became the subjectof hiswarmemoirs.He wasat one time lovertoactressIngrid
Bergman.Theirrelationshipfinallyendedin1946 whenhe refusedtosettle inHollywoodandwentoff
to Turkey.
6. In 1947 Capa was amonga groupof photojournalistswhofoundedMagnum Photos.Thiswasaco-
operative organisationsetuptosupportphotographersandhelpthemtoretainownershipof the
copyrightto theirwork.
7. Capa wenton to documentmanyotherwars.He neverattemptedtoglamorise warthough,butto
record the horror.He once said,"The desire of anywar photographeristobe put out of business."
8. Capa diedas he had lived.Afterpromisingnottophotographany more wars,he acceptedan
assignmenttogoto Indochinato coverthe firstIndochinawar.On May 25th 1954 Capa was
accompanyinga Frenchregimentwhenhe lefthisjeeptotake some photographsof the advance and
2. steppedona landmine.He wastakento a nearbyhospital,still clutchinghiscamera,butwas
pronounceddeadonarrival.He leftbehindhimatestamenttothe horrors of war and a standardfor
photojournalismthatfewothershave beenabletoreach.
9. Capa’s legacyhaslivedonthoughand in1966 hisbrotherCornell foundedthe International Fundfor
ConcernedPhotographyinhishonor.There isalsoaRobert CapaGold Medal,whichisgiventothe
photographerwhopublishesthe bestphotographicreportingfrom abroadwithevidence of exceptional
courage.But perhapshisgreatestlegacyof all are the hauntingimagesof the humanstrugglesthathe
captured.
