Robert Capa
Robert Capa, born Endre Erno Friedmann in Hungary, was a pioneering photojournalist renowned for his impactful war photography. Growing up amid political turmoil and anti-Semitic persecution, he fled to Berlin in the early 1930s, where he developed his photographic skills. Capa later moved to Paris, where he adopted the name Robert Capa, a marketing strategy he devised with his partner Gerda Taro. His career took off during the Spanish Civil War, where he captured his iconic image "Falling Soldier," which profoundly influenced the public's perception of war.
Capa's work spanned several major conflicts, including World War II, where he documented the D-Day landings and other critical events, bringing the stark realities of war to life through his lens. He was instrumental in founding Magnum Photos in 1947, a cooperative aimed at protecting photographers’ rights and ensuring their creative control. Capa's legacy lies not only in his powerful images that redefine wartime photojournalism but also in his commitment to the rights of photographers, making him a pivotal figure in the history of visual media. He tragically died in Vietnam in 1954 while covering the conflict, leaving behind a significant impact on journalism and photography.
Subject Terms
Robert Capa
- Born: October 22, 1913
- Birthplace: Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Hungary)
- Died: May 25, 1954
- Place of death: Thai Bihn, Vietnam
Hungarian-born photojournalist
A photojournalist who captured pictures of fighting in five wars from 1936 to 1954, including the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and World War II (1939-1945), Capa was in the first wave of American troops landing on Omaha Beach in northern France during the Allied invasion.
Areas of achievement: Journalism; photography
Early Life
Robert Capa (KAP-uh) was born Endre Erno Friedmann, the son of Denzso Friedmann and Julianna Berkovits, both Jews who did not practice their faith. Denzso was a successful tailor in Hungary, and Julianna helped with the business. Hungary was in turmoil with the Soviet dictatorship in 1918, and fascists took over the country, killing many and discriminating against Jews. Later, Capa joined a group of radicals, and he was eventually arrested and beaten.
Capa had a likable personality and a fondness for women. When his girlfriend, Eva Besnyo, left for Berlin, Germany, in 1930, he followed her in 1931. He had little money, so he was near starvation by the winter of 1932. Besnyo found him a job as a darkroom assistant to a photographer at an agency called Dephot. There he worked a number of jobs, and he eventually got a break when he was assigned to photograph a well-known Russian, Leon Trotsky. He obtained close-up portraits of Trotsky that his editor liked. In 1932, Adolf Hitler took over Germany and began to persecute Jews, so Capa fled to Paris. Again, with little money, he was starving and homeless for some time.
Life’s Work
In Paris, Capa became acquainted with famous photographers, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Capa’s future love, Gerda Taro. He and Taro invented an imaginary photographer, Robert Capa, to market his photographs. Thus, he changed his name from Friedmann in 1936, and he sold his pictures for high prices.
Vu magazine sent Capa and Taro to Spain to cover the civil war. They photographed a variety of subjects, including soldiers relaxing and fighting and people fleeing the fighting. Capa took perhaps his most famous photograph: a close-up shot of a soldier just as he was shot to death, called The Falling Soldier. It was published in Vu and other magazines, making Capa well known. He returned to France in 1938, and Taro stayed behind in Spain. She was killed in the fighting, which devastated Capa.
Capa then went to China to take pictures for Life magazine of the Japanese fighting in China. His pictures also documented the problems civilians faced during the fighting.
When the Germans invaded Poland in September, 1939, Capa went to the United States. There he soon married a U.S. citizen so that he could become a citizen himself. Life magazine hired him to make a variety of photo stories about the violent elections in Mexico, Ernest Hemingway, and the bombing of London by the Germans.
In 1942, Collier’s hired Capa to cover the Allies fighting in France and northern Africa. Unfortunately the U.S. government declared Capa an enemy alien. He wrote in his book, Slightly out of Focus (1947), about how he worked with the British and the Americans to solve this problem so he could go overseas. Initially in England he covered a variety of stories, documenting problems in a mining village, plastic surgery for war injuries, and B-17 bomber pilots. He also had time to charm the English women, gamble, and party as he had done in the past.
Capa went to Algiers in 1943 to take front-line pictures of the fighting between the Allies and the Germans. Then he photographed the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy. Capa returned to England in 1944, and he accompanied the early wave of Allied troops invading Omaha Beach in northern France; some of his most memorable pictures were of the troops wading onshore during the battle.
He finished his career by going to the Soviet Union in 1947 to cover, among other subjects, the damage after World War II. Finally Capa went to Vietnam for Life magazine to cover the fighting between France and Indochina. There he was killed by a land mine.
Significance
Capa documented wars on the front lines and in the midst of the fighting. In this sense he redefined wartime photojournalism. Readers could see the horrible devastation of soldiers and of civilians in the wars. Capa also founded the first major organization for freelance photographers in 1947, called Magnum, which worked to ensure that photographers retained copyrights and had better controls on their photographs. This was a major step in helping photographers to protect their pictures from being exploited by big organizations, such as Life magazine, and by other groups that used their photographs without compensating the photographers.
Bibliography
Capa, Robert. Slightly out of Focus. 1947. Reprint. New York: Modern Library, 1999. Capa’s account of his activities during World War II, including many of Capa’s war photographs.
Kershaw, Alex. Blood and Champagne. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003. A biography of Capa with a number of pictures of him and some of his famous acquaintances and girlfriends, such as the actor Ingrid Bergman. Includes an index and detailed references.
Marton, Kati. The Great Escape. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006. An account of how Hungarian Jews who later became famous escaped the Germans. Covers several scientists (such as Edward Teller), two film producers, and two photographers (including Capa).