Robert Capa
(1913-1954) Born Endre Friedmann of Jewish parents in
Budapest, Austria-Hungary in 1913, Capa left the
country in 1932 after being arrested because of his
political involvement with protestors against the
government
Capa wanted to be a writer; however, he found
work in photography in Berlin. In
1933, he moved from Germany to France because of the rise
of Nazism, but found it difficult to find work there as a
freelance journalist. He adopted the name "Robert Capa"
around this time because he felt that it would be
recognizable and American-sounding since it was similar to
that of film director Frank Capra. (In fact, "cápa" is a
Hungarian word meaning 'shark')
Robert Capa the profound photojournalist
covered five different wars: the Spanish Civil War, the
Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II,
1948 Arab-Israeli War and the First Indochina War.
Capa
documented the course of World War II in London, North
Africa, Italy, the Battle of Normandy on Omaha Beach and
the liberation of Paris.
To
Robert Capa, technical camera tchniques and considerations were secondary to
catching a dramatic moment. His action
photographs, such as those taken during the 1944 Normandy
invasion, portray the violence of war with unique impact.
In 1947, Capa cofounded prestigious Magnum Photos with,
among others, the French photographer Henri
Cartier-Bresson. The organization was the first
cooperative agency for worldwide freelance photographers.
Robert Capa, the Spanish civil war photographer famous for
his photograph Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death,
was held in very high esteem for his very graphic and
personal display of the other war against fascism.
D-Day Landing on
Omaha beach by Robert Capa
Buchenwald Margret Bourke-White
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