Robert Capa: The Self-less Pioneer
Body bags, stretchers, young men and women with cold blank stares of death – these are the sights and realities of war that today’s generation has become accustomed to. Before the Vietnam War though, information regarding the conditions of war was not so readily available to the mass public. However, as early as the 30’s and 40’s, photo journalists such as Robert Capa were capturing gory pictures of death and the horrors of war. The International Center of Photography’s current exhibition, “This is War: Robert Capa at Work,” exhibits these provoking and ground breaking images.
Robert Capa was, with out a doubt, a master and innovator of war photography. His most salient images all appeared in the top picture magazines of the day. For instance, “Boy Soldier: Hankos, China” appeared as the cover shot of the May 16, 1938 issue of Life Magazine and features a young boy soldier looking up into the sky. The use of gray tone and low contrast adds to the dreary portrayal of war – of a boy’s lost childhood. The shadow from the boy’s helmet consumes his face, perhaps to further illustrate the oppressiveness of war. The most gripping part of the picture, however, is the boy’s eyes of determination.
Capa’s own determination to capture the most transfixing truths of war is evident in many of his pictures. The “Death of a Loyalist Militiaman,” or better known as the “Fallen Soldier,” depicts a militiaman falling, almost unnaturally to his death, from a bullet wound to the head. This picture was a great source of controversy, with allegations that the pose was staged. Regardless to say, Capa risked his own life to capture these images. Another one of his most famous shots is one with the American soldiers landing on Omaha Beach on D-day. The beach is faint, almost undistinguishable, and the blurry focus captures the storming action of the troops. It is remarkable that Capa was actually in the water during a major invasion to capture a moment of history. Capa was a pioneer of war photography, and his work remains a source of awe today.