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08-17-2009, 03:06 PM   #1
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Robert Capa? Fraud?

There's new compelling evidence that one of the most memorable war photographs of all time is in fact a staged fraud:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/arts/design/18capa.html?hp

Hmmm...discuss.

08-17-2009, 07:23 PM   #2
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I think this is one that will be debated for the ages. A couple of years ago Smithsonian Magazine had a pretty well-researched piece concluding that the photo is most likely genuine. Who knows.
08-17-2009, 09:12 PM   #3
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This never happens with that hack Cartier-Bresson's work, does it?
08-18-2009, 06:22 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by lithos Quote
This never happens with that hack Cartier-Bresson's work, does it?
He also wasn't shooting photojournalism, so there are different standards applied.

He had plenty of controversy in his day from his contemporaries about his style.

08-18-2009, 06:37 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by alohadave Quote
He also wasn't shooting photojournalism, so there are different standards applied.

He had plenty of controversy in his day from his contemporaries about his style.
He was, but really it depends on who you ask. Every first and third person says he was a photojournalist, every second and fourth says street shooter. He did cover post-WWII Europe, but I don't really see his work as anything

Ok, I'll agree with you, but for a completely different reason: he didn't do photojournalism, because he sucked at it.
08-18-2009, 07:05 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by lithos Quote
Ok, I'll agree with you, but for a completely different reason: he didn't do photojournalism, because he sucked at it.
I also heard that Cartier-Bresson sucked at color. I recall a story (from the NY Times, I think) where he berated a friend who had brought some of his color photos to a dinner party. He did not want them seen.

So if Capa had to resort to 'staging' his shots and Cartier-Bresson sucked at color...there's hope for me yet!
08-18-2009, 07:58 AM   #7
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We discussed several of Capa's photos when I was in college and most of us firmly believed that the photo was posed or staged. Frankly, neither the actual "shooting" photo nor any of the subsequent photos appear natural. So, IMHO, it's a FRAUD!

However, I do not believe that this means Capa himself was the fraud. I suspect his handlers and heirs are to blame here in an attempt to magnify and inflate his "legend."

Mike

08-18-2009, 08:56 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by johnmflores Quote
I also heard that Cartier-Bresson sucked at color. I recall a story (from the NY Times, I think) where he berated a friend who had brought some of his color photos to a dinner party. He did not want them seen.

So if Capa had to resort to 'staging' his shots and Cartier-Bresson sucked at color...there's hope for me yet!
Reading Blood And Champagne, the unauthorised bio of Capa...Cartier Bresson never shot colour.

Capa did it for him.

HCB was approached by some magazine, offering a nice commission, to do some shots for the mag.

Thing was, they had to be in colour.

HCB couldn't be bothered with it, but wanted the money, so he struck a deal with Capa. Capa'd take the shots, and HCB'd give him some of the money.

Capa shot colour, HCB put his name on 'em, and the magazine sold out because everyone wanted to see these rare "Cartier-Bresson" colour shots...
08-18-2009, 07:11 PM   #9
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I just don't buy how close he was to the "victim" without himself getting caught in gunfire. According to that story, Capa himself described a machine gun fire that killed that man. Well, I'm sure he didn't have a 28-300 lens hiding in nearby brush, so chances are he had a 50mm or even wider and would have been extremely close to the alleged gunfire. Human reaction is to take cover, but we are to believe Capa just braved the gunshots and held his ground while snapping the shutter?
08-19-2009, 12:07 AM   #10
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Considering he waded ashore at Omaha beach with the second wave on D-Day, I'd say it's highly probable, K-9.

Even more dangerous considering how those huge nads of his would've made him a very large target indeed.
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