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Photo Poche #36
Robert Capa
Briefly describes the life and career of the influential photographer, and shows examples of his photographs of war, soldiers, children, and D-Day
84 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
64 people want to read
About the author
Robert Capa
86 books57 followersRobert Capa (born Endre Ernő Friedmann) was a Hungarian–American war photographer and photojournalist. He is considered by some to be the greatest combat and adventure photographer in history.
Friedman had fled political repression in Hungary when he was a teenager, moving to Berlin, where he enrolled in college. He witnessed the rise of Hitler, which led him to move to Paris, where he met and began to work with his professional partner Gerda Taro, and they began to publish their work separately. Capa's deep friendship with David Seymour-Chim was captured in Martha Gellhorn's novella, Two by Two. He subsequently covered five wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and the First Indochina War, with his photos published in major magazines and newspapers.
During his career he risked his life numerous times, most dramatically as the only civilian photographer landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He documented the course of World War II in London, North Africa, Italy, and the liberation of Paris. His friends and colleagues included Ernest Hemingway, Irwin Shaw, John Steinbeck and director John Huston.
In 1947, for his work recording World War II in pictures, U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Capa the Medal of Freedom. That same year, Capa co-founded Magnum Photos in Paris. The organization was the first cooperative agency for worldwide freelance photographers. Hungary has issued a stamp and a gold coin in his honor.
He was killed when he stepped on a landmine in Vietnam.
Friedman had fled political repression in Hungary when he was a teenager, moving to Berlin, where he enrolled in college. He witnessed the rise of Hitler, which led him to move to Paris, where he met and began to work with his professional partner Gerda Taro, and they began to publish their work separately. Capa's deep friendship with David Seymour-Chim was captured in Martha Gellhorn's novella, Two by Two. He subsequently covered five wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and the First Indochina War, with his photos published in major magazines and newspapers.
During his career he risked his life numerous times, most dramatically as the only civilian photographer landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He documented the course of World War II in London, North Africa, Italy, and the liberation of Paris. His friends and colleagues included Ernest Hemingway, Irwin Shaw, John Steinbeck and director John Huston.
In 1947, for his work recording World War II in pictures, U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Capa the Medal of Freedom. That same year, Capa co-founded Magnum Photos in Paris. The organization was the first cooperative agency for worldwide freelance photographers. Hungary has issued a stamp and a gold coin in his honor.
He was killed when he stepped on a landmine in Vietnam.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 24, 2022
Photos magnifiques et photographe de guerre remarquable.
April 3, 2018
Coleção de fotos de Robert Capa;
São 68 fotos em preto e branco, em sua maioria das guerras em que Capa estava presente com sua leica, e pelas quais ficou tão famoso!
Fotos simples, carregadas de verdade e emoção.
São 68 fotos em preto e branco, em sua maioria das guerras em que Capa estava presente com sua leica, e pelas quais ficou tão famoso!
Fotos simples, carregadas de verdade e emoção.
July 14, 2021
Simply put- a classic retrospective of the work of Robert Capa by his brother Cornell.
Some great quotes from the book on the photographs of Robert Capa;
Robert Capa: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”
Cornell Capa: “What he left behind is the story of the unique voyage and a visual testimony affirming his own faith in humankinds capacity to endure and occasionally to overcome.” (intro)
“The common denominator of the photographs in this book is not wear but people- and Capra’s extraordinary sensitivity to and sympathy for the human condition.”
Capa... the War pictures: “It is hardly surprising that their impact is so great despite despite their small number, for they are amongst the most intense and immediate shots of battle action ever taken.”
Capa: “His temperament suited him well for ear photography; he was brave, he loved the adventure and camaraderie he found at the front, and he was in inveterate gambler- with his life as well as with his money.”
Capa’s style:
“”He never fully mastered the use of flashbulbs; he was often very careless in the darkroom; and some of his editors used to wonder whether he had intentionally built into his camera a device for scratching his film. Perhaps Capa felt that it would be blasphemous to be too concerned with the technical niceties of a picture in which people were sown in danger of their lives and that there would something obscene in worrying about fine a print of a picture of human suffering.”
John Steinbeck:
“”He could show the horror of a whole people in the face of a child. His camera caught and held emotion.”
Some great quotes from the book on the photographs of Robert Capa;
Robert Capa: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”
Cornell Capa: “What he left behind is the story of the unique voyage and a visual testimony affirming his own faith in humankinds capacity to endure and occasionally to overcome.” (intro)
“The common denominator of the photographs in this book is not wear but people- and Capra’s extraordinary sensitivity to and sympathy for the human condition.”
Capa... the War pictures: “It is hardly surprising that their impact is so great despite despite their small number, for they are amongst the most intense and immediate shots of battle action ever taken.”
Capa: “His temperament suited him well for ear photography; he was brave, he loved the adventure and camaraderie he found at the front, and he was in inveterate gambler- with his life as well as with his money.”
Capa’s style:
“”He never fully mastered the use of flashbulbs; he was often very careless in the darkroom; and some of his editors used to wonder whether he had intentionally built into his camera a device for scratching his film. Perhaps Capa felt that it would be blasphemous to be too concerned with the technical niceties of a picture in which people were sown in danger of their lives and that there would something obscene in worrying about fine a print of a picture of human suffering.”
John Steinbeck:
“”He could show the horror of a whole people in the face of a child. His camera caught and held emotion.”
February 10, 2011
Ho deciso di acquistare questo libro per approfondire la figura di Capa e anche per avere una maggiore conoscenza della sua opera.
L'opera è molto ben scritta e documentata ottimamente, tra l'altro attinge a testimonianze e amici che riescono a gettare luce anche sugli aspetti più controversi del suo carattere. Ne emerge il profilo di un animo inquieto, segnato dalle tante sofferenze vissute nell'infanzia e nella prima giovinezza, che riesce a ritrovare un po' di pace solo nel cuore dell'azione. Il libro mette in luce sia gli innegabili difetti, come la dipendenza dal bere e dal gioco d'azzardo, ma anche il coraggio, il grandissimo talento e l'aiuto che ha dato a moltissimi colleghi.
Il corredo fotografico del volume non è grande. Se si vuole avere una panoramica migliore di tutto il suo lavoro ci sono fonti migliori, ad esempio la nuova edizione di "Slightly out of focus", la sua autobiografia ironica.
In ogni caso un'opera assolutamente consigliata agli appassionati di fotografia.
L'opera è molto ben scritta e documentata ottimamente, tra l'altro attinge a testimonianze e amici che riescono a gettare luce anche sugli aspetti più controversi del suo carattere. Ne emerge il profilo di un animo inquieto, segnato dalle tante sofferenze vissute nell'infanzia e nella prima giovinezza, che riesce a ritrovare un po' di pace solo nel cuore dell'azione. Il libro mette in luce sia gli innegabili difetti, come la dipendenza dal bere e dal gioco d'azzardo, ma anche il coraggio, il grandissimo talento e l'aiuto che ha dato a moltissimi colleghi.
Il corredo fotografico del volume non è grande. Se si vuole avere una panoramica migliore di tutto il suo lavoro ci sono fonti migliori, ad esempio la nuova edizione di "Slightly out of focus", la sua autobiografia ironica.
In ogni caso un'opera assolutamente consigliata agli appassionati di fotografia.
December 9, 2019
From the original bad boy Magnum photographer...devastating photojournalism during the Spanish Civil War...continues to permeate our culture everywhere, appearing in unexpected places like Alt-j lyrics.
December 14, 2012
Pictures - they say the cover was setup?
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews