ROBERT
CAPA
1. Robert
Capa is a name that has for many years been synonymous with war photography
2. Born
in Hungary in 1913 as Friedmann Endre Erno, Capa was forced to leave his native
country after his involvement in anti goverment protests. Capa had originally
wanted to become a writer, but after his arrival in Berlin had first found work
as a photographer. He later left Germany and moved to France due to the rise in
Nazism. He tried to find work as a freelance journalist and it was here that he
changed his name to Robert Capa,mainly because he tought it would sound more
American.
3. In
1936, after the breakout of the Spanish Civil war, Capa went to Spain and it
was here over the next three years that he built his reputation as a war
photographer.It was here too in1936 that he took one of his most famous
pictures, The Death of a Loyalist
Soldier. One of Capa’s most famous quotes was ‘If your pictures aren’t good
enough, you’re not close enough.’ And he took his attitude of getting close to
the action to an extreme. His photograph, The
Death of a Loyalist Soldier is a
prime example of this as Capa captures the very moment the soldier falls.
However, many have questioned the authenticity of this photograph, claiming
that it was staged.
4. When
World war II broke out, Capa was in New York, but he was soon back in Europe
covering the war for life magazine. Some of his most famous work was created on
6th june 1944 when he swarm ashore with the first assault on Omaha Beach in the
D-Day invasion of Normandy. Capa, armed only with two cameras, took more than
one hundred photographs in the first hour of the landing, but a mistake in the
darkroom during the drying of the film destroyed all but eight frames. It was
the images from these frames however that inspired the visual style of Steven
Spielberg’s Oscar Winning movie ‘Saving Private Ryan’. When life magazine
published the photographs, they claimed that they were slightly out of focus,
and Capa later used this as the title of his autobiographical account of the
war.
5. Capa’s
private life was no less dramatic. He was friend to many of Hollywood’s
directors, actors and actresses. In 1943 he fell in love with the wife of actor
John Austin. His affair with her lasted until the end of the war and became the
subject of his war memoirs. He was at one time lover to actress Ingrid Bergman.
Their relationship finally ended in 1946 when he refused to settle in Holywood
and went off to Turkey.
6. In
1947 Capa was among a group of photojournalists who founded Magnum Photo. This
a co-operative organisation set up to support photographers and help them to
retain ownership of the copyright to their work.
7. Capa
went on to document many other wars. He never attempted to glamorise war
though, but to record the horror. He once said, “The dsire of any war
photographer is to be put out of bussiness.”
8. Capa
died as he had lived. After promising not to photograph any more wars, he
accepted an assignment to go to Indochina to cover the first Indochina war. On
may 25th 1954 Capa was accompanying a French regiment when he left his jeep to
take some photographs of the advance and stepped on a land mine. He was taken
to a nearby hospital, still clutching his camera, but was pronounced dead on
arrival. He left behind hin a testament to the horrors, of war and a standard
for photojournalism that few others have been able to reach.
9. Capa’s
legacy has lived on though and in 1966 his brother Cornell founded the
International Fund for Concerned Photography in his honor. There is also a
Robert Capa Gold Medal, which is given to the photographer who published the
best photographic reporting from aboard with evidence of exceptional courage.
But perhaps his greatest legacy of all are the haunting images of the human
struggles that he captured.
Question :
1. Why
did Capa change his name?
a. To
hide his identity
b. Because
he had been involved in protest
c. To
sound more American
d.
Because
he had to leave Hungary
2. Capa
originally wanted to be
a. A
photojournalist
b.
A
writer
c. American
d. A
protestor
3. Capa
went to Spain to
a. Fight
in the civil war
b. Build
his reputation
c. Hav
a holiday
d.
Take
photographs
4. Capa’s
famous picture Death of a Loyalist
Soldier
a. was
taken by someone else
b. was
definitely genuine
c. wasn’t
even taken in Spain
d.
cannot
be proven genuine or staged
5. When
World War II broke out Capa
a. Went
to New York
b. Swarm
ashore on Omaha Beach
c.
Went
to Europe
d. Wen
to Normandly
6. A
mistake meant that
a. Only
one hundred of Capa’s photographs were published
b. Capa
lsot both of his two cameras
c. Capa’s
images inspired an Oscar Winning movie
d.
Most
of Capa’s images of the D-Day landing were destroyed
7. Capa’s
private life was
a. Less
dramatic than his professional
b. Spent
mostly in Hollywood
c.
Very
glamorous
d. Spent
in Turkey
8. Capa
wanted his work to
a. Be
very famous
b. Show
how glamourous war can be
c.
Show
the true horror of war
d. Make
lots of money
9. Which
sentence best paraphrases paragraph 5?
a. Capa
had a tragic private life and was never able to settle down and find happiness
b.
Despite
having many good friends and lovers, Capa always put his word first
c. Capa
wanted to make friends with important people in Hollywood so that he could move
into the movie industry
d. Capa’s
priate life was very complicated. He could not choose between the two women he
loved, so he went off to work in Turkey
10. Which
sentence best paraprhrases paragraph 4?
a. Capa
never tried to avoid danger. He risked his life to take photographs of the
D-Day invasion, but then destroyed most og them
b.
Capa
took some of his famous the D-Day invasion, but most were tragically destroyed
in an accident
c. Capa
only kept the best eight D-Day photographs as the others were out of focus.
These inspired the visual style of a Holywood film
d. Capa
left Europe when the war broke out and went to take his most famous photographs
of the D-Day invasion
