ICP War Exhibit: Robert Capa
Innovation has altered society’s perception on war. Today, people have been exposed to the horrors of war through movies such as Saving Private Ryan and television series such as Band of Brothers. Additionally, soldiers now have mini-cameras attached to their helmets, so anyone can witness the environment and the circumstances that current soldiers endure. However, society’s exposure to war was not always as direct and blunt as it is today. Before innovation, photographers enlightened society about the situation that soldiers endured through photographs. The person whose work, perhaps, best illustrates the conditions and horrors of war was Robert Capa.
Today, people can look at Capa’s photographs and not be appalled by the images. People must be able to adjust their perspective to that of a person living during his lifetime. Capa’s most famous photograph Death of a Loyalist Militiaman, also known as the “Falling Soldier,” is not a powerful image unless one can imagine that he has never seen death. For a person who has never seen death, the image is captivating because of the facial expression and the eerie tone that the photo emits. The majority of Capa’s photographs emit this eerie tone because they focus on death, fear, poverty, and depression.
Personally, his series of photographs focusing on D-day were more intriguing than his other works. The fact that he had to land and raid the beach with American soldiers in order to capture these photographs is what makes them attractive. Robert Capa put his life on the line in order to deliver brilliant images to the public. The image American soldiers landing on Omaha Beach displays the situation the soldiers experienced when they landed on the beach. The picture is blurred, showing that everything was in motion and chaotic, and the smoke in the background foreshadows the deaths and horrors to come. Then, there is American soldier killed by German snipers, a photograph that has more of a mellow tone to it because the soldier, who was killed by a sniper, and seems to have died instantaneously and unexpectedly, rather than dieing painfully.
Robert Capa’s works illustrate the horrors of war and the lives of soldiers, similar to what movies and television series do today. Ultimately, people cannot fully appreciate Robert Capa’s work because of modern innovation that make Robert Capa’s work seem “PG-13”, when they were “R-rated” for his time. Robert Capa’s dedication and hard work came to an abrupt end when he stepped on a land mine on an obscure battlefield in Indochina; however, through his brilliant photographs, he will live on forever.