Born in Budapest in 1913, Robert Capa was probably the most important war photographer of the 20th century. He covered five wars; the Spanish Civil War, the First Sino-Japanese War, the Second World War, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the First Indochina War.
Capas’ striking image entitled Death of a Soldier is one of his more famous, partly due to arguments in recent years over its’ authenticity. The image was lauded for capturing what became known as the ‘point of death’, but the photographers’ closeness to the subject and unbelievable timing caused some to suggest the image was staged. However, the identity of the soldier (and therefore the authenticity of the photograph) was uncovered in 2002 in an investigation largely funded by Robert Capas’ brother Cornell, who is known for vehemently protecting his brothers’ reputation.
During the Second World War, Capa took his camera on assignment to London, North Africa, Italy, the Battle of Normandy on Omaha Beach and the liberation of Paris. At Normandy, Capa reached the shore with the first wave of American soldiers and took 108 photos using two Contax II cameras with 50mm lenses. On his return to London from Omaha Beach, an employee of Life magazine made a mistake while hurrying to develop the images and melted all but eleven.
After the war, Capa returned to New York and co-founded Magnum Photo with several other war photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson. The co-operative is still in operation, with offices in New York, Tokyo and London and is still owned wholly by the photographers who contribute.
In 1954, Capa was covering the First Indochina War, which would later evolve into the Vietnam War. While photographing a French patrol on May 25th, Capa stepped on a land mine and died shortly after.
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