Photographers


version française

Robert Capa
American photographer


Robert Capa (born October 22, 1913 in Budapest and died May 25, 1954 in Indochina, from his real name Endre Erno Friedmann, was a photographer of Hungarian origin.

He studied political science at the German College for Politics in Berlin. In 1931, he was forced to leave his hometown in Hungary for Berlin, at the age of 17. He meets Simon Gutman, founder of the Dephot photo agency, which gives him the opportunity to cover his first subject, Leon Trotsky.

A Jew, he left Germany for Paris and met David Seymour and Henri Cartier-Bresson there.
At the Photo Alliance he meets Gerda Pohorylle, a Jewish German student and freedom-loving anti-fascist. She also becomes a photographer under the name of Gerda Taro. With Gerda, he shares a beautiful romance.

In 1935, he decided to take a pseudonym, he is now known as "Robert Capa". This nickname is close to the name of the director Franck Capra, moreover, in Hungarian "capa" means shark.
He left with his partner in 1936, to cover the Spanish Civil War alongside Republican troops, for the Vu and Regard magazines. His motto "If the shot isn't good enough, you're not close enough".

In Spain, he became a fervent anti-fascist.
But it was with a photograph, which has since become famous, that he achieved great fame. Titled Death of a Republican soldier.
Gerda Taro was accidentally crushed on July 28, 1937 by a Republican tank, during the debacle of the troops Republicans in the siege of Madrid.

In 1938, he was sent by Life magazine to cover the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Fleeing Europe in 1939, Capa lost the suitcase containing his collection of negatives, which as time passed would be called "the Mexican suitcase".

He emigrated to New York to join his mother and brother. There he is commissioned by Colliers magazine to cover the front of North Africa in 1942. He then left for Sicily, to follow the landing of the Allied troops for Life magazine.

On June 6, 1944, still for Life, he was the only photographer present during the Allied landings in Normandy. It is with the first wave of assault that it arrives on the beach of Omaha Beach. For more than 6 hours, under the bombs and between the bullets, he photographs the war up close. Alongside the soldiers, he takes 119 photos. Unfortunately, Life lab worker, pressed for time (photos arrived just before closing), makes a mistake and destroys almost all the cliches. In the end, only 11 valid photos will remain.

In 1945, Capa had an affair with actress Ingrid Bergman who traveled to Europe to entertain the soldiers. Americans. In December 1945, Capa followed him to Hollywood where he worked for American International Pictures for a short period. Bergman tries to persuade him to marry but Capa refuses because he doesn't want to live in Hollywood. Their idyll is immortalized by their mutual friend Alfred Hitchcock in the film "Window on courtyard". .their adventure takes end in the summer of 1946 when Capa left for Turkey.

In 1947, he founded with David Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and William Vandivert the Magnum photographic cooperative, of which he became president in 1950.

In 1948, he witnessed the birth of the State of Israel.

Life magazine needs a photographer to cover the war in Indochina. Despite the fact that he had sworn not to photograph another war a few years earlier, Capa agreed and accompanied a French regiment with two other Life journalists. It is therefore alongside the French troops that he travels through Vietnam.
On May 25, 1954, in Thai-Binh near Tonkin, Vietnam, wanting to take a general photo of French soldiers, he wanders off the path and steps on a mine. The French army awarded him the Croix de Guerre with palms posthumously.

The "Robert Capa Gold Medal" award was established in 1955 to reward the exceptional professional merit of a photographer.





Loyalist Militiaman © Robert Capa


Omaha beach on D-Day © Robert Capa


actress Ingrid Bergman © Robert Capa



spanish refugees © Robert Capa


Liberation of Paris © Robert Capa


Paris © Robert Capa



© Robert Capa


writer Ernest Hemingway © Robert Capa


painter Pablo Picasso © Robert Capa

 


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The Text is partially from Robert Capa. (2008, February 8). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:00, February 8, 2008
All photographies and rights associated belong to their respective author
on simple demand, texts or photographs may be suppressed of this web site
To read in French : "Robert Capa : traces d'une légende" from Bernard Lebrun and Michel Lefebvre



Created on February, 8th 2008, Updated March, 15th 2023
© Pierre J.