Robert Capa was a Hungarian war photographer who documented five major wars of the 20th century, including the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and the First Indochina War. He is best known for his photos from the D-Day Normandy landings, where he captured images of soldiers hiding behind obstacles on Omaha Beach under fire. Capa took these photos to show the true brutality and suffering of war, countering propaganda that portrayed war as glorious. He composed his photos to depict both the foreground subjects and background setting to fully capture the scenes of war.

1. Robert Capa was a Hungarian war photographer, photojournalist and also
the companion and professional partner of photographer Gerda Taró. He
covered five wars, the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese
War, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First
Indochina War. He documented the course of World War II
in London, Africa, Italy, the Battle of Normandy on Omaha Beach and the
liberation of Paris. He is one of the most known war photographers, he is
most notably known for his photography during WWII. The form of Robert
Capa’s photography was war. Robert Capa followed this form throughout
most of his career, because he wanted to capture the real war without any
propaganda involved in it. He also took these photos to show that war was
not as great as the media made it out to be, he did this by taking pictures of
distraught and lost soldiers. He has taken photos of soldiers in real
situations, such as D-Day, where he took pictures of the landings and
soldiers hiding for their lives behind the hedgehogs. Capa mostly took
landscape photography in order to capture the entire background and
surroundings.

2. Purpose- This photograph was taken to show how the soldiers had to
fight for their lives during WWII by hiding behind the. It was also to
capture the scene of war, in order to show that war is not as great and
glorified as made out to be by the media. This would make the public
aware of what the war was really like and would demolish the propaganda
surrounding war. This photograph would be used and displayed in
newspaper articles, showing and allowing the public to see the real scene
of war and how the soldiers suffered and how they had to survive. This
photograph would generate income by being bought by newspaper
companies and displayed in anti-war articles and campaigns.
Composition and framing- This photograph is composed well because
the soldiers and the two hedgehogs are composed in the middle of the
shot. Also, there are the three boats in the background, which are situated
in each of the middle frames on the grid. By the use of this being composed
as so, we are made to focus on both the foreground and the background, as
we can clearly see the soldiers in the foreground and the boats in the
background. Furthermore, by the photograph being composed like this,
the natural lighting of the shot comes into effect, as the natural lighting is
used to make the shot brighter and to make the entire shot more visible.
The subject of the points of focus have been made like this, so that we can
see where the soldiers have come from and that they have swam to the
shore from the distant boats in the background. Also, so that it seems that
the soldiers are coming towards us and to give the viewer the feeling that
they are in the shot.
Image Analysis- The colour of the photograph is in grey scale, therefore
there is not much colour in the photo. Although, the white in the photo
does signify the daylight and the weather conditions that were present on
the day. From the colour we can see that the atmosphere was misty and
foggy. Moreover, the white in the shot shows that the water was quite
rough and there were waves present. There has been natural lighting used
in this shot. The use of natural lighting creates a natural theme and gives
effect to the entire shot. The natural lighting also allows the ships to be in
viewing distance and not blurry. Also, the lighting increases the ability to
make the entire shot in focus. In this photograph, the subject is the soldiers
hiding behind the hedgehogs. The purpose of this subject is to show the
suffering the soldiers have to go through in order to survive and to show
that they have to hide for their lives to survive. Furthermore, the subject of
the purpose is to influence and increase the amount of the anti-war
champagne, and to show the real war to the public, without any influence
from the media propaganda. The use of the costume shows us that this is a
picture of war and that the soldiers are engaging in battle.

3. Meaning- The meaning of this photograph is to show that war is deadly
and not glorified as the media makes it to be. It is also to show and signify
how the soldiers suffer in the war and how war affects people. This
photograph has the theme of war and anti-war, to capture the real war to
display to the public. There is a very significant statement that this
photograph is making; the statement is that war is not glorifying or as
great as the media made it out to be. The second statement is that war is
deadly and it affects the entire world in some way or another.

4. Purpose- The purpose of this was to show the real war and what the war
actually looked like outside of the media. The photograph was taken to
make the public aware of the real war and what the real war actually
looked like without the influence of the media. This photograph might be
used and displayed in a newspaper article or the news to show what is
happening in the war at that time, and to keep the public up to date upon
the war. Furthermore, it might be used to show what happened at the war
and that WWII was not as great and glorified as it was made out to be. It
might be generate income by being sold to newspaper companies to
display in the articles or the news.

5. Composition and framing- This photograph is composed well because
the soldiers and the two hedgehogs are composed in the middle of the
shot. Also, there are the three boats in the background, which are situated
in each of the middle frames on the grid. By the use of this being composed
as so, we are made to focus on both the foreground and the background, as
we can clearly see the soldiers in the foreground and the boats in the
background. Furthermore, by the photograph being composed like this,
the natural lighting of the shot comes into effect, as the natural lighting is
used to make the shot brighter and to make the entire shot more visible.
The subject of the points of focus have been made like this, so that we can
see where the soldiers have come from and that they have swam to the
shore from the distant boats in the background. Also, so that it seems that
the soldiers are coming towards us and to give the viewer the feeling that
they are in the shot.
Image Analysis- The colour of the photograph is in grey scale, therefore
there is not much colour in the photo. Although, the white in the photo
does signify the daylight and the weather conditions that were present on
the day. From the colour we can see that the atmosphere was misty and
foggy. Moreover, the white in the shot shows that the water was quite
rough and there were waves present. There has been natural lighting used
in this shot. The use of natural lighting creates a natural theme and gives
effect to the entire shot. The natural lighting also allows the ships to be in
viewing distance and not blurry. Also, the lighting increases the ability to
make the entire shot in focus. In this photograph, the subject is the soldiers
hiding behind the hedgehogs. The purpose of this subject is to show the
suffering the soldiers have to go through in order to survive and to show
that they have to hide for their lives to survive. Furthermore, the subject of
the purpose is to influence and increase the amount of the anti-war
champagne, and to show the real war to the public, without any influence
from the media propaganda.
Meaning- The meaning of this photograph is to show that war is deadly
and not glorified as the media makes it to be. It is also to show and signify
how the soldiers suffer in the war and how war affects people. This
photograph has the theme of war and anti-war, to capture the real war to
display to the public. There is a very significant statement that this
photograph is making; the statement is that war is not glorifying or as
great as the media made it out to be. The second statement is that war is
deadly and it affects the entire world in some way or another.