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Robert Capa (; born Endre Ernő Friedmann, ; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American and . He is considered by some to be the greatest combat and adventure photographer in history.Kershaw, Alex. Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa, Macmillan (2002)

Friedman had fled political repression in Hungary when he was a teenager, moving to Berlin, where he enrolled in college. He witnessed Adolf Hitler's rise to power, which led him to move to , where he met and began to work with his professional partner , and they began to publish their work separately. Capa's deep friendship with David Seymour-Chim was captured in 's novella Two by Two. He subsequently 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, with his photos published in major magazines and newspapers.

(2025). 9780761929574, SAGE. .

During his career he risked his life numerous times, most dramatically as the only civilian photographer landing on on . He documented the course of World War II in London, North Africa, Italy, and the liberation of Paris. His friends and colleagues included , , and director .

In 1947, for his work recording World War II in pictures, U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Capa the Medal of Freedom. That same year, Capa co-founded in Paris. The organization was the first agency for worldwide freelance photographers. Hungary has issued a stamp and a gold coin in his honor.

He was killed when he stepped on a landmine in Vietnam.


Early years
Capa was born Endre Ernő Friedmann to the family of Júlia (née Berkovits) and Dezső Friedmann in , , on October 22, 1913. His mother, Julianna Henrietta Berkovits was a native of Nagykapos (now Veľké Kapušany, Slovakia) and Dezső Friedmann came from the Transylvanian village of Csucsa (now , Romania). At the age of 18, he was accused of alleged communist sympathies and was forced to flee Hungary.Davenport, Alma. The History of Photography: An Overview, Univ. of New Mexico Press (1991)

He moved to , where he enrolled at Berlin University where he worked part-time as a darkroom assistant for income and then became a staff photographer for the German photographic agency, Dephot. It was during that period that the came into power, which made Capa, a Jew, decide to leave Germany and move to Paris.


Career
Capa's first published photograph was of making a speech in on "The Meaning of the Russian Revolution" in 1932.

After moving to Paris, he became professionally involved with Gerta Pohorylle, later known as , a German-Jewish photographer who had moved to Paris for the same reasons he did. The two of them decided to work under the alias Capa at this time, and she contributed to much of the early work. However, the two of them later separated aliases, with Pohorylle quickly creating her own alias 'Gerda Taro', and began publishing their work independently. Capa and Taro developed a romantic relationship alongside their professional one. Capa proposed and Taro refused, but they continued their involvement. He also shared a darkroom with French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, with whom he would later co-found the cooperative. "Robert Capa’s Longest Day", Vanity Fair, June 2014


Spanish Civil War, 1936
From 1936 to 1939, Capa worked in Spain, photographing the Spanish Civil War, along with Taro and David Seymour. "New Works by Photography’s Old Masters", New York Times, April 30, 2009

It was during that war that Capa took the photo now called The Falling Soldier (1936), purported to show the death of a Republican soldier. The photo was published in magazines in France and then by Life and .Ingledew, John. Photography, Laurence King Publishing (2005) p. 184 The authenticity of the photo was later questioned, with evidence including other photos from the scene suggesting it was staged. , a pioneering magazine published in the United Kingdom, had once described then twenty-five year old Capa as "the greatest war photographer in the world."

The next year, in 1937, Taro died when the motor vehicle on which she was traveling (apparently standing on the footboard) collided with an out-of-control tank. She had been returning from a photographic assignment covering the Battle of Brunete.

Capa accompanied then-journalist and author to photograph the war, which Hemingway would later describe in his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Life magazine published an article about Hemingway and his time in Spain, along with numerous photos by Capa. "Life Documents Hemingway's New Novel with War Shots", Life magazine, January 6, 1941

In December 2007, three boxes filled with rolls of film, containing 4,500 35mm negatives of the Spanish Civil War by Capa, Taro, and Chim (David Seymour), which had been considered lost since 1939, were discovered in . "The Capa Cache", New York Times, January 27, 2008 "The Mexican Suitcase, Rediscovered Spanish Civil War Negatives by Capa, Chim, and Taro" , International Center of Photography "The Fascinating Story of The Mexican Suitcase" , ORMS In 2011, Trisha Ziff directed a film about those images, entitled The Mexican Suitcase.


Chinese resistance to Imperial Japan, 1938
In 1938, he traveled to the Chinese city of , now within , to document the resistance to the Japanese invasion.Stephen R. MacKinnon includes photographs by Robert Capa, in Wuhan, 1938: War, Refugees, and the Making of Modern China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008). He sent his images to Life magazine, which published some of them in its May 23, 1938, issue. Capa photos of the Chinese resistance, Life, May 23, 1938

World War II
At the start of World War II, Capa was in New York City, having moved there from Paris to look for work, and to escape Nazi persecution. During the war, Capa was sent to various parts of the on photography assignments. He first photographed for Collier's Weekly, before switching to Life after he was fired by Collier's. He was the only "" photographer for the Allies. On October 7, 1943, Robert Capa was in with Life reporter Will Lang Jr., and there he photographed the Naples post office bombing. Slightly Out of Focus, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1947, p. 104


D-Day, Omaha beach, 1944
A group of images known as "The Magnificent Eleven" were taken by Capa on . Taking part in the Allied invasion, Capa was attached to the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red One") on . D-Day, National WWII Museum The US personnel attacking Omaha Beach faced some of the heaviest resistance from German troops inside the bunkers of the . Photographic historian A. D. Coleman has suggested that Capa traveled to the beach in the same landing craft as Colonel George A. Taylor, commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment, who landed 1½ hours after the first wave, near Colleville-sur-Mer.

Capa subsequently stated that he took 106 pictures, but later discovered that all but 11 had been destroyed. This incident may have been caused by Capa's cameras becoming waterlogged at Normandy, although the more frequent allegation is that a young assistant accidentally destroyed the pictures while they were being developed at the photo lab in London. Simon Kuper, "Interview: John Morris on his friend Robert Capa", Financial Times, May 31, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013. However, this narrative has been challenged by Coleman and others. In 2016, John G. Morris, who was picture editor at the London bureau of Life in 1944, agreed that it was more likely that Capa captured 11 images in total on D-Day. The 11 prints were included in Life magazine's issue on June 19, 1944, with captions written by magazine staffers, as Capa did not provide Life with notes or a verbal description of what they showed.

The captions have since been shown to be erroneous, as were subsequent descriptions of the images by Capa himself. For example, men described by Life as infantrymen taking cover behind a obstacle during the assault landing were in fact members of Gap Assault Team 10 – a combined US Navy/US Army demolition unit tasked with blowing up obstacles and clearing the way for landing craft after the beach had been secured. Lt. (jg) H. L. Blackwell, Jr. Report on Naval Combat Demolition Units [NCDUs] In Operation "Neptune" as part of Task Force 122 (5 July, 1944) (February 19, 2019).


The Shaved Woman of Chartres
Capa took photographs during the Allied invasion of France in 1944. His picture The Shaved Woman of Chartres, taken on August 16, 1944, shows a woman whose head has been shaved as a punishment for collaboration with the Nazis.


The Picture of the Last Man to Die
On April 18, 1945, Capa captured images of a fight to secure a bridge in , Germany. These pictures included an image of Raymond J. Bowman's death by sniper fire. This image was published in a spread in magazine with the caption "The picture of the last man to die."


Post-war Soviet Union, 1947
In 1947 Capa traveled to the with his friend, the American writer . They originally met when they shared a room in an Algiers hotel with other war correspondents before the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943. They reconnected in New York, where Steinbeck told him he was thinking about visiting the Soviet Union, now that the war was over.

Capa suggested they go there together and collaborate on a book, with Capa documenting the war-torn nation with photographs. The trip resulted in Steinbeck's A Russian Journal, which was published both as a book and a syndicated newspaper serial. Photos were taken in Moscow, , , and among the ruins of .Railsback, Brian E., Meyer, Michael J. A John Steinbeck Encyclopedia, Greenwood Publishing Group (2006) p. 50 They remained good friends until Capa's death; Steinbeck took the news of Capa's death very hard.


Magnum Photos agency, 1947
In 1947, Capa founded the venture in Paris with Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Vandivert, David Seymour, and . It was a cooperative agency to manage work for and by freelance photographers, and developed a reputation for the excellence of its photo-journalists. In 1952, he became the president.


Founding of Israel, 1948
Capa toured Israel during its founding and while it was being attacked by neighboring states. He took the numerous photographs that accompanied 's book, Report on Israel. "Robert Capa's Road to Jerusalem", Jewish Review of Books, Winter 2016


Documenting film productions, 1953
In 1953 he joined screenwriter and director in Italy where Capa was assigned to photograph the making of the film, Beat the Devil. "Robert Capa Remembered", Independent UK, October 12, 1996 During their off time they, and star , enjoyed playing poker.

Capa also acted in the film Temptation (1946 film), playing a supporting role. Allegedly, Capa received the part after visiting his friend on the set. Capa claimed that he could play the part better than the actor who had originally been cast, and after speaking with the director was cast in the final film.


First Indochina War and death, 1954
In the early 1950s, Capa travelled to Japan for an exhibition associated with Magnum Photos. While there, Life magazine asked him to go on assignment to Southeast Asia, where the French had been fighting for eight years in the First Indochina War. Although he had claimed a few years earlier that he was finished with war, Capa accepted the job. He accompanied a French regiment located in Thái Bình Province with two Time-Life journalists, and Jim Lucas. On May 25, 1954, the regiment was passing through a dangerous area under fire when Capa decided to leave his jeep and go up the road to photograph the advance. Capa was killed when he stepped on a landmine near the road.
(2025). 9780805098358, Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC..

He was 40 at the time of his death. He is buried in plot #189 at Amawalk Hill Cemetery (also called Friends Cemetery), Amawalk, Westchester County, New York along with his mother, Julia, and his brother, .


Personal life
Capa was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Budapest, "Robert Capa" , Jewish History, Hungary where his parents were tailors. Capa's mother was a successful fashion shop owner, and his father was a tailor in her shop. Capa had two brothers: a younger brother, photographer and an older brother, László Friedmann. Not much is known of Capa's older brother László, except that he married Angela Maria Friedmann-Csordas in 1933. He died in 1935 of rheumatic fever and was buried next to his father in the Kozma Utca Jewish Cemetery.

At the age of 18, Capa moved to , later relocated to , and finally settled in Berlin: all cities that were centers of artistic and cultural ferment in this period. He studied at the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik from 1931 until 1933, when the instituted restrictions on Jews and banned them from universities. He then moved to Paris and in 1934 met Gerda Pohorylle, a German Jewish refugee. "André Friedman", as he called himself then, taught Gerda photography, and together they created the name and image of "Robert Capa". At that time, both photographers published their work under the pseudonym of Robert Capa. Gerda later took the name and became successful in her own right. She travelled with Capa to Spain in 1936 intending to document the Spanish Civil War. In July 1937, Capa traveled briefly to Paris while Gerda remained in . She was killed near Brunete during a battle. Capa, who was reportedly engaged to her, was deeply shocked and never married.

In February 1943, Capa met Elaine Justin. They fell in love and the relationship lasted until the end of the war. Capa spent most of his time in the frontline. Capa called the redheaded Elaine "Pinky," and wrote about her in his war memoir, Slightly Out of Focus. In 1945, Elaine Justin broke up with Capa; she later married Chuck Romine. Some months later, Capa became the lover of the actress , who was touring in Europe to entertain American soldiers.

(2025). 9780743261159, Simon & Schuster. .
p. 176 In December 1945, Capa followed her to Hollywood. The relationship ended in the summer of 1946 when Capa traveled to Turkey.


Legacy
The government of Hungary issued a postage stamp in Capa's honor in 2013. That same year it issued a 5,000-forint ($20) gold coin, also in his honor, showing an engraving of Capa.

His younger brother, , also a photographer, worked to preserve and promote Robert's legacy as well as develop his own identity and style. He founded the International Fund for Concerned Photography in 1966. To give this collection a permanent home, he founded the International Center of Photography in New York City in 1974. This was one of the foremost and most extensive conservation efforts on photography to be developed. Indeed, Capa and his brother believed strongly in the importance of photography and its preservation, much like film would later be perceived and duly treated in a similar way. The Overseas Press Club created the Robert Capa Gold Medal in the photographer's honor.

Capa is known for redefining wartime photojournalism. His work came from the trenches as opposed to the more arms-length perspective that was the precedent. He was famed for saying, "If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough."

He is credited with coining the term . He used it as a title for a photo-essay about the young people reaching adulthood immediately after the Second World War. It was published in 1953 in (UK) and Holiday (US). Capa said, "We named this unknown generation, The Generation X, and even in our first enthusiasm we realised that we had something far bigger than our talents and pockets could cope with."

(2003). 9780879728625, Popular Press.

In 1947, for his work recording World War II in pictures, U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Capa the Medal of Freedom CitationGeorge Stevens Jr., "Robert Capa: A Photographer at War", Washington Post, September 29, 1985 The International Center of Photography organized a travelling exhibition titled This Is War: Robert Capa at Work, which displayed Capa's innovations as a photojournalist in the 1930s and 1940s. It includes vintage prints, contact sheets, caption sheets, handwritten observations, personal letters and original magazine layouts from the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. The exhibition appeared at the Barbican Art Gallery, the International Center of Photography of Milan, and the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in the fall of 2009, before moving to the Nederlands Fotomuseum from October 10, 2009, until January 10, 2010. Travelling exhibitions: This Is War! Robert Capa at Work , International Center of Photography

In 1976 Capa was posthumously inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.


Politics
As a young boy, Capa was drawn to the Munkakör (Employment Circle), a group of and artists, photographers, and intellectuals centered around Budapest. He participated in the demonstrations against the Miklós Horthy regime. In 1931, just before his first photo was published, Capa was arrested by the Hungarian secret police, beaten, and jailed for his radical political activity. A police official's wife—who happened to know his family—won Capa's release on the condition that he would leave Hungary immediately.

The has described Capa as "a leftist, and a democrat—he was passionately pro-Loyalist and passionately ..." During the Spanish Civil War, Capa travelled with and photographed the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), which resulted in his best-known photograph.

The British magazine ran his photos from Spain in the 1930s accompanied by a portrait of Capa, in profile, with the simple description: "He is a passionate democrat, and he lives to take photographs."


In popular culture
  • In 2013, the Japanese Female Musical Theater group Takarazuka Revue produced a musical piece based on the life of Capa. Ms. performed the lead role as Capa. The group performed the musical in 2012 in Takarazuka and Tokyo and in 2014 in .
  • In 's novella Afterimage Capa is a mentor for the subject of the novella, Francis Jansen, a photographer who retires to Mexico.
  • In 's movie , the protagonist L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies () was partly based on Capa.
    (2025). 9780521564236, Cambridge University Press. .
  • Poet wrote a poem about Capa, named Happy Accidents. It can be found in the anthology Skirrid Hill.
  • In English indie rock group 's 2012 album An Awesome Wave, the love between Capa and Taro, and the circumstances of his death are described in the second-to-last track, "Taro".
  • The Austrian rock singer Falco wrote the song "Kamikaze Cappa" in tribute to Capa.


Collections
  • Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Museum of Modern Art, New York
  • Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Budapest
  • Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection, Magnum Photos
  • Robert Capa, International Center of Photography
  • Robert Capa Photographs, Worcester Art Museum
  • Robert Capa, The J. Paul Getty Museum
  • Robert Capa, International Photography Hall of Fame


Publications

Publications by Capa
  • The Battle of Waterloo Road. New York: , 1941. . Photographs by Capa. With text by Diana Forbes-Robertson.
  • Invasion!. New York, London: D. Appleton-Century, 1944. . Photographs by Capa. With text by Charles Wertenbaker.
  • Slightly Out of Focus. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1947. New York: , 2001. . Text and photographs by Capa. With a foreword by and an introduction by Richard Whelan. A memoir.
  • Images of War. New York: Grossman, 1964. Text and photographs by Capa. . With a text by .
  • Robert Capa: Photographs. New York: Aperture, 1996. . New York: Aperture, 2004.
  • Heart of Spain: Robert Capa's Photographs of the Spanish Civil War. New York: Aperture, 1999. . New York: Aperture, 2005. .
  • Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection. London, New York: , 2001. . London, New York: Phaidon, 2004. . Edited by Richard Whelan.
  • Robert Capa at Work: This is War!. Göttingen: , 2009. . Photographs by Capa. With a foreword by Willis E. Hartshorn, an introduction by Christopher Phillips, and text by Richard Whelan. Published to accompany an exhibition at the International Center of Photography, New York, September 2007 – January 2008. "A detailed examination of six of Robert Capa's most important war reportages from the first half of his career: the Falling Soldier (1936), Chinese resistance to the Japanese invasion (1938), the end of the Spanish Civil War in Catalonia (1938–39), D-Day, the US paratroop invasion of Germany and the liberation of Leipzig (1945)."
    • Questa è la Guerra!: Robert Capa al Lavoro. Italy: Contrasto, 2009. . Published to accompany an exhibition in Milan, March–June 2009.


Publications with others
  • Death in the Making. New York: , 1938. Photographs by Capa and Taro.
  • A Russian Journal. New York: , 1948. Text by , illustrated with photographs by Capa.
  • Report on Israel. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1950. By and Capa.


Publications about Capa
  • Robert Capa: a Biography. New York: Knopf, 1985. By Richard Whelan. .
  • Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa. Macmillan, 2002; Thomas Dunne, 2003; . Da Capo Press, 2004; . By .
  • La foto de Capa. Córdoba: Paso de Cebra Ediciones, 2011. A fictionalised account of the discovery of the exact location of the "Falling Soldier" photograph. .
  • Nizza oder die Liebe zur Kunst. Bad König: Vantage Point World, 2013. By Axel Dielmann. . Text in German.


Notes

External links

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