Hidden Cities: A Photobook

ROBERT CAPA
October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954
BIOGRAPHY
Robert Capa was a Hungarian–American war photographer and photojournalist. He is considered by some
to be the greatest combat and adventure photographer in history.
Friedman had fled political repression in Hungary when he was a teenager, moving to Berlin, where he
enrolled in college. He witnessed the rise of Hitler, which led him to move to Paris, where he met and
began to work with his professional partner Gerda Taro, and they began to publish their work separately.
He subsequently covered five wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II
across Europe, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and the First Indochina War, with his photos published in major
magazines and newspapers. He was killed when he stepped on a landmine in Vietnam.
Capa was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Budapest, where his parents were
tailors; Capa’s mother was a successful fashion shop owner, and his father was an
employee of her shop. Capa had two brothers: a younger brother, photographer Cornell
Capa and an older brother, László Friedmann. Cornell moved to Paris in 1936 to join his
older brother Capa, where he found an interest in photography instead of staying in
the field of medicine. Not much is known of Capa’s older brother László, except that he
married Angela Maria Friedmann-Csordas in 1933. He died a year later and was buried
next to his father in the Kozma Utca Jewish Cemetery.
At the age of 18, Capa moved to Vienna, later relocated to Prague, and finally settled
in Berlin: all cities that were centers of artistic and cultural ferment in this period. He
started studies in journalism at the German Political College, but the Nazi Party instituted
restrictions on Jews and banned them from colleges. Capa relocated to Paris, where he
adopted the name ‘Robert Capa’ in 1934. At that time, he had already been a hobbyphotographer.
Capa is known for redefining wartime photojournalism. His work came from the trenches
as opposed to the more arms-length perspective that was the precedent. He was famed
for saying,
“
If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.
The origin of the quote can be traced back Over time, the quote has become
to an interview Capa gave to the journalist synonymous with Capa’s approach to
Richard Whelan in 1947 for the book “The photography and his bold, immersive style
Bitter Years: Edward Steichen and the Farm of capturing images in the midst of intense
Security Administration Photographs.” situations. It is often cited as an inspiration
In the interview, Capa discussed his
for photographers, emphasizing the
experiences photographing the D-Day importance of proximity and intimacy with
nvasion during World War II. When asked the subject matter to create powerful and
about the close proximity of his images, impactful photographs.
Capa replied, “The pictures are there, and
you just take them. If your pictures aren’t
good enough, you’re not close enough.”
“
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