A child sitting atop a tank during Charles de Gaulle’s speech after the liberation of Paris by Allied forces, August 25, 1944. Photo by Robert Capa.
"I hope to stay unemployed as a war photographer till the end of my life."
— Robert Capa
French fishermen look at the bodies of soldiers on Omaha Beach after D-Day, photo by Robert Capa.
“Capa said he felt ‘a new kind of fear’ on D-Day that made him tremble as he shot pictures. ‘The bullets tore holes in the water around me, and I made for the nearest steel obstacle,’ he said. ‘A soldier got there at the same time, and for a few minutes we shared its cover. He took the waterproofing off his rifle and began to shoot without much aiming at the smoke-hidden beach. The sound of his rifle gave him enough courage to move forward, and he left the obstacle to me. It was a foot larger now, and I felt safe enough to take pictures of the other guys hiding just like I was.’” (Click on image for source.)
"I would say that the war correspondent gets more drinks, more girls, better pay, and greater freedom than the soldier, but at this stage of the game, having the freedom to choose his spot and being allowed to be a coward and not be executed for it is his torture."
—
Robert Capa, war photographer.
I find this quote fascinating in its self-deprecation, because to me, a war photographer is as brave as a soldier in many ways. To choose to stand aside and document the world ripping itself apart around you is not as easy as it may sound, and it’s the great responsibility for a photojournalist to not only document the horror for his or her own generation, but for the generations to come. But this quote reveals the constant inner conflict between the acknowledgment and pride of that responsibility and the despair and certain degree of self-hatred, between the journalist and the human being.
Two of the few surviving photos that Robert Capa took when he landed with US troops at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Most of the film from that day was accidentally ruined during development by a lab assistant at LIFE Magazine.
(Source.)
Robert Capa (October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954 ), photographed by Gerda Taro.
Born Endré Ernő Friedmann in Hungary, Robert Capa went on to become one of the most well-known and fearless photographers of the early 20th century. He first became noticed for his work covering the Spanish Civil War together with his partner and lover Gerda Taro. Capa is perhaps best known for his coverage of the Second World War, during which he produced some of the most iconic images of the conflict, covering extensively wartime in London, the Allies’ Italian campaign (including the liberation of Naples), the taking of Leipzig, Nuremberg and Berlin and even the landing at Omaha beach at Normandy on D-Day. His career also spanned the Israeli War for Independence and the French Indochina War, during which he was killed by a land mine.
An American soldier killed by German snipers, Leipzig, Germany, April 18, 1945. Photo by Robert Capa.
