Editing Robert Capa (section)

==Career==
Capa's first published photograph was of [[Leon Trotsky]] making a speech in [[Copenhagen]] on "The Meaning of the Russian Revolution" in 1932.<ref name="bostonreview">{{Cite web |url=http://bostonreview.net/BR30.2/linfield.php |title=Linfield, ''Boston Review'' |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-date=November 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106233046/http://bostonreview.net/BR30.2/linfield.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

After moving to Paris, he became professionally involved with Gerta Pohorylle, later known as [[Gerda Taro]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zakhor-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Gerda-Taro.jpg|title=Photo of Gerda Taro|website=zakhor-online.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref> a German-Jewish photographer who had moved to Paris for the same reasons he did.<ref name=Davenport/>{{rp|154}} 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 [[Magnum Photos]] cooperative.<ref name=Davenport/>{{rp|154}}<ref name=vanity>[http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/06/photographer-robert-capa-d-day "Robert Capa’s Longest Day"], ''Vanity Fair'', June 2014</ref>

===Spanish Civil War, 1936===

[[File:PikiWiki Israel 17486 Statue quot;Freedom is Freequot; - Tribute to th.JPG|thumb|A sculpture by [[Igael Tumarkin]] inspired by ''Death of a Loyalist Soldier'']]
From 1936 to 1939, Capa worked in Spain, photographing the [[Spanish Civil War]], along with Taro and [[David Seymour (photographer)|David Seymour]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/arts/design/30capa.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=robert%20capa&st=cse "New Works by Photography’s Old Masters"], ''New York Times,'' April 30, 2009</ref>

It was during that war that Capa took the photo now called ''[[The Falling Soldier]]'' (1936), purported to show the death of a [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] soldier. The photo was published in magazines in France and then by ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' and ''[[Picture Post]]''.<ref name="Ingledew">Ingledew, John. ''Photography'', Laurence King Publishing (2005) p. 184</ref> The authenticity of the photo was later questioned, with evidence including other photos from the scene suggesting it was staged.{{efn|The authenticity of the photograph is today in doubt, with some questioning its location, the identity of its subject, and the discovery of staged photographs taken at the same time and place.<ref name="PBS">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/capa_r.html|title=Richard Whelan, ''Proving that Robert Capa's Falling Soldier is Genuine: a Detective Story,'' ''American Masters,'' PBS Website.|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=September 10, 2017|archive-date=August 12, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060812062421/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/capa_r.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Iconic_Capa_war_photo_was_staged_ne_07172009.html "Iconic Capa war photo was stage: newspaper"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720232147/http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Iconic_Capa_war_photo_was_staged_ne_07172009.html |date=July 20, 2009 }}, AFP</ref>}} ''[[Picture Post]],'' a pioneering [[photojournalism]] magazine published in the United Kingdom, had once described then twenty-five year old Capa as "the greatest war photographer in the world."<ref name="Davenport" />{{rp|155}}

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]].<ref name="Davenport" />

Capa accompanied then-journalist and author [[Ernest Hemingway]] to photograph the war, which Hemingway would later describe in his novel, ''[[For Whom the Bell Tolls]]'' (1940).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cinemastationblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/capahemingway.jpg|title=Photo of Capa (far left) with Hemingway (far right) in Spain|website=wordpress.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref>  ''Life'' magazine published an article about Hemingway and his time in Spain, along with numerous photos by Capa.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=M0oEAAAAMBAJ&dq=robert+capa+hemingway&pg=PA52 "Life Documents Hemingway's New Novel with War Shots"], ''Life'' magazine, January 6, 1941</ref>

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 [[Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffZMf_GBt6U |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ffZMf_GBt6U| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=The Mexican Suitcase trailer|last=The212BERLIN|date=August 4, 2011|access-date=April 1, 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/arts/design/27kenn.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin "The Capa Cache"], ''New York Times'', January 27, 2008</ref><ref>[https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/the-mexican-suitcase-traveling-exhibition "The Mexican Suitcase, Rediscovered Spanish Civil War Negatives by Capa, Chim, and Taro"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211201100/https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/the-mexican-suitcase-traveling-exhibition |date=February 11, 2021 }}, International Center of Photography</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.icp.org/files/exhibitions_mexicase_featuredcropped.jpg|title=Photo of the Spanish Civil War|website=icp.org|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>[https://www.ormsdirect.co.za/blog/2016/03/23/the-fascinating-story-of-the-mexican-suitcase/ "The Fascinating Story of The Mexican Suitcase"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201040138/https://www.ormsdirect.co.za/blog/2016/03/23/the-fascinating-story-of-the-mexican-suitcase/ |date=December 1, 2017 }}, ''ORMS''</ref> In 2011, Trisha Ziff directed a film about those images, entitled ''[[The Mexican Suitcase]]''.<ref name="IDA">{{cite news|title=Meet the DocuWeeks Filmmakers: Trisha Ziff--'The Mexican Suitcase'|url=http://www.documentary.org/magazine/meet-docuweeks-filmmakers-trisha-ziff-mexican-suitcase|access-date=January 16, 2016|publisher = [[International Documentary Association]] | work=Documentary|issue=August 2011}}</ref>{{quote box
| quote = All you could do was to help individuals caught up in war, try to raise their spirits for a moment, perhaps flirt a little, make them laugh; ... and you could photograph them, to let them know that somebody cared.
| source = Robert Capa<ref name=washpost/>
| align = 
| width = 25em
|bgcolor = MistyRose
|}}

=== Chinese resistance to Imperial Japan, 1938 ===
In 1938, he traveled to the Chinese city of [[Hankou]], now within [[Wuhan]], to document the resistance to the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japanese invasion]].<ref>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).</ref> He sent his images to ''Life'' magazine, which published some of them in its May 23, 1938, issue.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1koEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Robert+Capa+china&pg=PA19 Capa photos of the Chinese resistance], ''Life'', May 23, 1938</ref>
[[File:Chinese Soldier.jpg|thumb|"Chinese Soldier" by Capa]]

=== 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 [[European Theatre]] on photography assignments.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/06/photographer-robert-capa-d-day|title=War Photographer Robert Capa and his Coverage of D-day|last=Brenner|first=Marie|magazine=Vanity Fair|access-date=November 21, 2017|language=en}}</ref> He first photographed for ''[[Collier's Weekly]]'', before switching to ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' after he was fired by Collier's. He was the only "[[enemy alien]]" photographer for the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Capa at 100: The war photographer's legacy |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20131022-robert-capa-photo-warrior |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510153006/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20131022-robert-capa-photo-warrior |archive-date=May 10, 2023 |access-date=May 10, 2023 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref> On October 7, 1943, Robert Capa was in [[Naples]] with ''Life'' reporter [[Will Lang Jr.]], and there he photographed the [[1943 Naples post office bombing|Naples post office bombing]].<ref>''Slightly Out of Focus'', Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1947, p. 104</ref>
[[File:La Guerra Civil a través del lente de Robert Capa.JPG|thumb|A display of some of Capa's works]]

==== D-Day, Omaha beach, 1944 ====
{{Main|The Magnificent Eleven}}

A group of images known as "The Magnificent Eleven" were taken by Capa on [[D-Day]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c4/04/5d/c4045d946959d04ce27f96bbdcd2195f.jpg|title=Photo by Capa on D-Day|website=pinimg.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref> Taking part in the Allied invasion, Capa was attached to the [[16th Infantry Regiment (United States)|16th Infantry Regiment]], 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red One") on [[Omaha Beach]].<ref>[http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/d-day-june-6-1944.html D-Day], National WWII Museum</ref><ref name=vanity/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://reelfoto.blogspot.com/2012/12/robert-capa-20th-century-war.html|title=The Reel Foto: Robert Capa: 20th Century War Photographer|last=Jay|date=December 2, 2012|website=reelfoto.blogspot.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref> The US personnel attacking Omaha Beach faced some of the heaviest resistance from German troops inside the bunkers of the [[Atlantic Wall]]. 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]].<ref name="Coleman">{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/exposure-magazine/alternate-history-robert-capa-on-d-day-2657f9af914|title=Alternate History: Robert Capa on D-Day|last=Coleman|first=A. D.|date=February 12, 2019|website=exposure magazine|publisher=Society for Photographic Education|access-date=February 18, 2019}}</ref>

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,<ref name=vanity/> 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.<ref>[http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/3d37a03e-c8be-11e2-acc6-00144feab7de.html#slide0 Simon Kuper, "Interview: John Morris on his friend Robert Capa"], ''Financial Times'', May 31, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013.</ref> However, this narrative has been challenged by Coleman and others.<ref name="Coleman"/> 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.<ref name="Coleman"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/as-he-turns-100-john-morris-recalls-a-century-in-photojournalism/|title=As He Turns 100, John Morris Recalls a Century in Photojournalism|last=Estrin|first=James|date=December 6, 2016|website=Lens Blog|publisher=New York Times|language=en-US|access-date=February 18, 2019}}</ref> The 11 prints were included in ''Life'' magazine's issue on June 19, 1944,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slightly-out-of-focus.com/Capa_file/Capa%20images/d-day%20life/D%20DAY%201.jpg|title=''Life'' magazine story with Capa's images|website=slightly-out-of-focus.com|access-date=April 1, 2018|archive-date=September 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930161105/http://www.slightly-out-of-focus.com/Capa_file/Capa%20images/d-day%20life/D%20DAY%201.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref> with captions written by magazine staffers, as Capa did not provide ''Life'' with notes or a verbal description of what they showed.<ref name="Coleman"/>

The captions have since been shown to be erroneous, as were subsequent descriptions of the images by Capa himself.<ref name="Coleman"/> For example, men described by ''Life'' as infantrymen taking cover behind a [[Czech hedgehog|hedgehog]] 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.<ref name="Coleman"/><ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/d/d-day-the-normandy-invasion-combat-demolition-units.html Lt. (jg) H. L. Blackwell, Jr. Report on Naval Combat Demolition Units &#91;NCDUs&#93; In Operation "Neptune" as part of Task Force 122 (5 July, 1944)] (February 19, 2019).</ref>

==== ''The Shaved Woman of Chartres'' ====
Capa took photographs during the Allied invasion of [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/Societe/La-veritable-histoire-de-la-tondue-de-Chartres-583028|title=2014 – L'été de la mémoire – La véritable histoire de la tondue de Chartres|first=Paris|last=Match|website=parismatch.com|date=August 22, 2014 }}</ref>

==== ''[[The Picture of the Last Man to Die]]'' ====
[[File:Capahaus-saniert.jpg|thumb|[[Capa House]] in Leipzig 2015]]
On April 18, 1945, Capa captured images of a fight to secure a bridge in [[Leipzig]], Germany. These pictures included an image of [[Raymond J. Bowman]]'s death by sniper fire. This image was published in a spread in ''[[Life magazine|Life]]'' magazine with the caption "The picture of the last man to die."<ref name=tracesofwar>{{cite web |url=https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/48579/Bowman-Raymond-J.htm |title=Bowman, Raymond J. |website=tracesofwar.com |access-date=April 23, 2016}}</ref>

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

Capa suggested they go there together and collaborate on a book, with Capa documenting the war-torn nation with photographs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phaidon.com/resource/capa100-4.jpg|title=Photo of John Steinbeck and Robert Capa boarding a plane for the USSR, 1947|website=phaidon.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref> The trip resulted in Steinbeck's ''[[A Russian Journal]]'', which was published both as a book and a syndicated newspaper serial.<ref name=Railsback/> Photos were taken in Moscow, [[Kyiv]], [[Tbilisi]], [[Batumi]] and among the ruins of [[Stalingrad]].<ref name=Railsback>Railsback, Brian E., Meyer, Michael J. ''A John Steinbeck Encyclopedia'', Greenwood Publishing Group (2006) p. 50</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://theglobalpanorama.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/6250670988_ed13b1ab95_z.jpg |title=Photo of Stalingrad, taken by Capa |access-date=October 28, 2016 |archive-date=October 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028154146/http://theglobalpanorama.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/6250670988_ed13b1ab95_z.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c2/80/9f/c2809fdea257f8d92da70a3487cca1e5.jpg|title=Photo of Tiflis, Georgia, 1947|website=pinimg.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://agenda.ge/uploads/files/NYC44884.jpg|title=Photo of Georgian farmworkers|website=agenda.ge|access-date=April 1, 2018|archive-date=October 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028215057/http://agenda.ge/uploads/files/NYC44884.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref> They remained good friends until Capa's death; Steinbeck took the news of Capa's death very hard.<ref name=Railsback/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a4/a0/2e/a4a02e23f0c38be915c975d984f8148b.jpg|title=Photo of Capa and Steinbeck|website=pinimg.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref>

===Magnum Photos agency, 1947===
In 1947, Capa founded the [[cooperative]] venture [[Magnum Photos]] in Paris with [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]], William Vandivert, [[David Seymour (photographer)|David Seymour]], and [[George Rodger]]. 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.{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

===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 [[Irwin Shaw]]'s book, ''Report on Israel''.<ref name=jewishreview>[http://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1969/robert-capas-road-to-jerusalem/ "Robert Capa's Road to Jerusalem"], ''Jewish Review of Books'', Winter 2016</ref>
[[File:Capa-Haus.jpg|thumb|People gathered to view Capa's work in the Capa-House]]

===Documenting film productions, 1953===
In 1953 he joined screenwriter [[Truman Capote]] and director [[John Huston]] in Italy where Capa was assigned to photograph the making of the film, ''[[Beat the Devil (film)|Beat the Devil]]''.<ref name=independent>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/robert-capa-remembered-1358188.html "Robert Capa Remembered"], ''Independent'' UK, October 12, 1996</ref> During their off time they, and star [[Humphrey Bogart]], enjoyed playing poker.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/59/ea/59/59ea594ce8b18646cc7ae277e3546726.jpg|title=Photo of Capa, John Huston and Burl Ives|website=pinimg.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gettyimages.com/pictures/robert-capa-243107#hungarian-war-photographer-and-photojournalist-robert-capa-visits-picture-id178685903|title=Robert Capa Photo Gallery|website=gettyimages.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref>

Capa also acted in the film [[Temptation (1946 film)|''Temptation'' (1946 film)]], playing a supporting role. Allegedly, Capa received the part after visiting his friend [[Charles Korvin]] 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===
<!--[[Image:RobertCapaLife05161938.jpg|thumb|left|Capa photo of Chinese soldier]]-->

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, [[John Mecklin]] 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aronson |first1=Marc |last2=Budhos |first2=Marina |title=Eyes of the World Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and the Invention of Modern Photojournalism |date=2017 |publisher=Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC. |isbn=9780805098358}}</ref><ref name=Davenport/>{{rp|155}}<ref>{{cite web|last1=Badenbroek|first1=Michael|title=Robert Capa – war photographer|url=http://www.army-photographer.com/index.php/robert-capa|website=army-photographer.com|access-date=April 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504232954/http://www.army-photographer.com/index.php/robert-capa|archive-date=May 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He was 40 at the time of his death. He is buried in plot #189 at [[Amawalk Friends Meeting House|Amawalk Hill Cemetery]] (also called Friends Cemetery), Amawalk, Westchester County, New York along with his mother, Julia, and his brother, [[Cornell Capa]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Capa (1913-1954) - Find a Grave Memorial |url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169/robert-capa |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=www.findagrave.com |language=en}}</ref>