The Arts in New York City

International Center of Photography “This is War” by Robert Capa

Last Sunday, I visited the International Center of Photography with John and Wei.  Located on 6th Avenue and 43rd street, it housed Robert Capa’s photographs of the various wars- Sino-Japanese, Spanish Civil War, and WWII.  When I first heard the name of the exhibit, my mind jumped to the various battles and blood and gore associated with war.  When I walked into the exhibit, it was another story.
The first thing that shocked me was the beginning of the exhibit.  Huge letters spelled out the name “Gerda Taro”.  Apparently she worked under the alias of Robert Capa with Robert Capa.  That is to say, she printed her photos under his name.  Actually, both Gerda Taro and Robert Capa are aliases.  Their real names were Gerta Pohoryhlle and Andre Friedmann.  Their works were virtually indistinguishable aside from the fact that Gerda’s photos were square and Capa’s photos were rectangular.
Most of the photos were actually about the civilian population.  Very few were about actual battles and death.  The ones that I found most interesting were “Death of a Loyalist Militia man” (Falling Soldier), “Marineros, Rio Segre, Aragon Front, near Fraga Spain” and “American Soldier landing on Omaha Beach”.
“Falling Soldier” promoted the most debate.  We couldn’t decide whether the photo was staged or whether it was real.  I thought it was staged because of several reasons.  One—if someone was shooting at the guy, why is Robert Capa standing there taking a picture?  I thought he would have been running at that point.  Two, cameras back then weren’t like the point-and-shoot cameras we have today.  It would have taken time to set up.  How is it that once the camera was set up that the soldier was supposedly “shot”?  The timing just seems too coincidental.
The highlight of the exhibit (the picture that really promoted the exhibition) was Capa’s Omaha Beach Picture.  It features a blurring effect.  I felt that it represented the disorientation that the combatants experienced as they stormed the beach.  With the bullets flying and artillery roaring around them, the explosions were probably enough dead them senses.  Another picture that has the same blurring effect was the “Marineros, Rio Segre” picture, which shows one lone soldier walking out in the open, again blurred.  There’s one thing I can’t figure out is whether or not he purposefully made the blurring effects.  The pictures suggest that he was on the front lines taking these pictures.  It might be the shaking environment of the battlefield that forced the unfocused images.
Other pictures worth mentioning were “Air Raid Victims in the Morgue” and “American Soldier Killed by a German Sniper”.  These were really got down and dirty and exposed the real nature of war.  While all the pictures were for propagandistic purposes, these pictures were the most effective in gaining support.  The “Air Raid Victims in a Morgue” only featured civilians, which was saying that the enemy did not discriminate when they killed.  The American soldier picture featured an American lying in a pool of his own blood as another soldier bravely takes up the machine gun.  This not only serves to dehumanize the enemy but also glorify American ideals such as the bravery that the second soldier exhibited.
What impressed me the most was the fact that he was physically on the battlefield taking pictures.  It brings journalism to a whole new level.  He went further into the battlefield than I’m sure most people have ever gone.  He actually lived through the battles and still managed to take such excellent pictures.  He was willing to put his life on the line to expose the war on an international level.