Robert Capa Research Paper

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. The art of Photojournalism involves the documentation, recording and communication of events through photographs. Basically the photo tells the story. Most photojournalists work for newspapers and magazines, some work freelance but many work through an agency for example- magnum.
Photojournalists can specialise in a wide range of genres such as: sports, entertainment, war photography or foreign affairs.
Possibly the most famous photojournalist of all time is the world renowned, Robert Capa, famous for his portrayal of the Spanish civil war and World War II’s D-Day.

Robert Capa was born in Budapest in 1913. He was birth name was Endre Ern but he later changed it to “Robert Capa” as he believed it was recognisable and “American sounding”.

Capa began his career as a freelance journalist in France but in 1936 to 1939 he travelled to Spain to photograph the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. In 1936 he became world famous for a photo he took of a soldier who had just been shot and was falling to his death. There was much controversy over the picture because of Capa’s close proximity to the soldier and the timing of the capture. His
famous quote “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough” encapsulates his philosophy and portrays the meaning for his close proximity to the solider.

Robert Capa’s most famous work occurred on D-Day in World War II.
Capa swam ashore with the second assault wave on Omaha Beach and documented the historic day. He then sent the 35mm rolls from his two standard Contax cameras back to the Life offices, Capa was not to know the disaster that would befall them; a young darkroom assistant, realising that he was developing some of the most important images of the Century, overheated the chemicals and melted the negatives. As a result, the now-blurred series appeared in Life with an accompanying text stating that Capa’s hands had been shaking from fear and excitement. This claim was, of course,
false.

In 1947, Capa founded Magnum Photos with four co-workers. In 1951, he was made the president.

In the year 1954, Capa travelled to south east Asia to document the Indochina war. While working in a dangerous area under fire, his philosophy “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough” led to tragedy when he stepped on a landmine and was fatally injured.
Robert Capa was probably the most famous photojournalist of all time. His famous images enticed and enlightened the viewer. His pictures had the ability to change the viewer from a spectator into a participant.