I was going to upload an actual Capa photo, but I found this and it made me chuckle. Obviously the real photo is famous for its ability to capture the moment of the soldier is fatally wounded. Despite worries about its authenticity it provides a specific moment which encapsulates the personal and general lose of warfare. Its a fantastically composed image, rather than sound to cool and detached, it is such formal properties which ensure it has its impact.

On a more serious note I thought I would mention Capa as I am giving a lesson on photo journalism today, and he is one of the greats. I was first struck by the power and honesty of Capa’s work at a show of his photos at the Mead gallery in warwick around the turn of the millenium.

His war photographs, from the famous to the less well know, have a directness which seems to bely the truth of our safe distance (spatial and temporally) from the events. Working on the front line he has the ability to remove himself and capture the horror of what he sees. His final photo, taken moments before he stepped on a land mine, is ttagic testimony to his dedication to capturing the war to ensure it was disseminated and remembered.