A major change in war photography came in the 1920's with the invention and increased availability of portable 35mm film cameras and flash equipment. These allowed photographers to move unencumbered into the heart of the action - whilst this reduced the lifespan of the war photographer it brought an immediacy to the photographs.
Robert Capa's photograph of the Loyalist soldier being hit by machine gun fire demonstrates this here you have the very moment of death caught during the Spanish Civil War - this would have been impossible without the quick lenses developed during the 1920's and 30's.
| Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano |
There are few photographs in the history of photography that can be called classics of a genre and in the case of war photography it is normally the tragic ones that are.
Robert Capa's image of the Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, and this is the official title, taken on about 5 September 1936 during the Spanish Civil War is one of these. The photograph was published in ‘Vu‘ magazine on 23 September 1936 (pp. 1106-1107) accompanied by photographs of Cerro Muriano refugees.
There has been intensive research on this photograph and controversy over what exactly took place. Although we may never know for certain what happened on that hillside the photograph is the most famous of Robert Capa‘s remarkable career and one of the landmarks of photojournalism.
For those interested read the 1985 book ‘Robert Capa: A Biography‘ by Richard Whelan. In the more recent 2002 biography ‘Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa‘ by Alex Kershaw a whole chapter is on this photograph. There is also the article ‘Proving that Robert Capa's "Falling Soldier" is Genuine: A Detective Story‘ by Richard Whelan that was published in Aperture magazine, No. 166, Spring 2002. | | [Checklist] | Click on image for details
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Heart of Spain: Robert Capa's Photographs of the Spanish Civil War
Robert Capa; Juan P. Fusi Aizpurua; Richard Whelan; Fusi Aizpurua; & Catherine Coleman |  |
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Slightly Out of Focus
Robert Capa; & Richard Whelan (Introduction) |  |
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| Card No.89 in the 'True Stories of Modern Warfare' series produced by Gum Inc. in 1938 commemorates the death of the German born photojournalist Gerda Taro in the Spanish Civil War. | | [Checklist] | Click on image for details
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| Posters from the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) |
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