Background

Robert Capa (whose real name was Endre Friedmann) was born October 22, 1913 in Budapest, Hungary. He was born into a Jewish background. Capa left Hungary at age 18 and went to a college in Berlin called Deutsche Hocschule fur Politik; he studied political sciences. He had originally wanted to be a writer, but found work in Berlin for photography. Capa left his studies in 1933, when Facism began to rise; he escaped to Paris. In Paris he met Gerda Taro, a photojournalist woman who was associated with anti-Nazi advocates. Capa proposed to Taro; she refused, but they stayed together. They made up the American persona of ‘Robert Capa’ and started to sell photos under that name. Taro and Capa soon formed a partnership and covered the Spanish-American War in 1936 for Vu magazine. Taro also took pictures from the front line (she was the first woman war photojournalist) and was killed during the Spanish Civil War on July 26, 1937.

Capa became friends with other significant photographers David Seymour and Henri Cartier-Bresson and met Piscasso and Ernest Hemingway.

Capa first became famous in 1939 during the Spanish Civil War for a controversial war photo. The picture was named "Death of a Loyalist Militiaman" but is commonly called "Falling Soldier". It was an action picture (published in Vu magazine) of a Spanish Republic soldier who had just been shot and was falling to the ground. This picture is still one of the most famous images of war of all time. This photo helped him gain world-wide fame. However, now people are suggesting that the photo was staged. They believe that Capa lied about the location where the picture was taken. Click here for more information about the controversy.

Click here for more on Capa's background.

Accomplishments

Robert Capa is best known for his controversial war photos. Capa redefined war journalism and photography; he showed the less glorified, dangerous side of war. He covered five wars total; the Spanish Civil War, The Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indochina War. His most influential work was taken during the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Capa also had a reputation of embellishment; he would exaggerate or lie to help his reputation or to get more attention to a story that wouldn't have been covered otherwise. Capa supported "fakery in allegiance to the truth," said Henry Luce, publisher of Life magazine, who was Capa's boss. (www.nytimes.com)

Also, Capa was one of the creators of the Magum photo agency in 1947 along with photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Magnum Photos was the first free-lance photography agency. Capa worked mostly free-lance for Life and Collier's magazines.

Capa's photography was more about 'catching the moment' than specific photography rules. He also believed in getting as near as he could to the subject of his photo; he believed in taking close-up pictures. "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough" stated Capa while covering the First Indochina War shortly before he died. (www.photoquotes.com)

To view a gallery of Capa's work, click here.

Biggest Stories

Capa is recognized for his war photojournalism during World War II. Capa followed World War II across Europe until the liberation of Paris. He was the only photojournalist who was originally from the area of the Central Powers who was working for the Allies. On October 7, 1943, Capa was in the area when the Naples post office was bombed (the Germans had planted a time bomb a few days before in the building). Capa took pictures of the bombing. One hundred people died in the bombing. "In a war, you must hate somebody or love somebody; you must have a position or you cannot stand what goes on, " said Capa. (www.brainyquote.com)

Capa is most famous for his pictures of the Americans storming the Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day. Capa swam ashore with the second wave of troops on June 6, 1944, taking pictures from the water. He took 106 pictures, but most of the negatives melted because of a mistake in the darkroom. Life magazine published the photos on June 19, 1944. The pictures were blurry, so the magazine put the pictures with captions that described the pictures as 'slightly out of focus'.

In 1947, after World War II, Capa traveled to the Soviet Union with writer John Steinbeck. He took pictures of the remains of Stalingrad after World War II. Steinbeck wrote descriptions to match the photos.

Capa wrote an autobiography called Slightly Out of Focus (named after the Life captions).Published in 1947, Slightly Out of Focus described Capa's experiences while taking war photos and the devastation of war.

Capa also is known for his work during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. During the Spanish Civil War, Capa took a series of films called the "Mexican Suitcase". Capa lost the "Mexican Suitcase" in 1939 when he escaped from Europe to the U.S., leaving it in Paris. A Mexican general named Franciso Gonzalez was a diplomat in Paris and found the negatives. Capa believed that the pictures were lost when the Germans invaded France in World War II. However, in the April of 2009, the "Mexican Suitcase" was found in Mexico City- it contained thousands of negatives of the Spanish Civil War. The suitcase was actually three cardboard boxes with more than 3,500 negatives. Click here for more information about Robert Capa's work during the Spanish Civil War and his personal background.

Capa also toured Israel after it was founded and took photos for a book called Report on Israel.

Capa's Death

On May 25, 1954, Robert Capa was killed by a landmine in Thai Binh, Vietnam. Capa was asked by Life magazine to cover the First Indochina War. Although he had said he would never take pictures of war again, Capa decided to go anyways with two other journalists, Jim Lucas and John Mecklin. He went to take pictures of the beginning of a battle nearby, and stepped in the landmine.

The Overseas Press Club, a club of international journalists, created the Robert Capa Gold Medal award to remember Capa's accomplishments in 1955. Each year it is given to the photographer had the best photography and exemplified courage.
Click here to watch a video about Robert Capa's accomplishments.