RE: [Leica] Capa

["B. D. Colen" <BDColen@earthlink.net>]

Dave - The "proof" to which I'm refering was reported in the May/June
American Photo, and apparantly there is a written piece and video tape on
the subject available at the Capra ICP exhibit. According to the AmPhoto
piece, the soldier has been identified and was the only person in his unit
killed on the day in question. There are other photos of him, very much
alive, earlier in the day in question.

I don't claim to know what the truth here is - but I would bet a lot of
Leica equipment on the fact that, if the photo is faked, it was not some
accidental goofing around, but rather was deliberately staged. Dying isn't
something people are likely to "goof around" about under those
circumstances.

On the other hand, given the entire body of Capra's work, I seriously doubt
the photo was staged.



- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of
Yods1@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 1998 2:04 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: [Leica] Capa


I also read the "proof" that the Capa photo wasn't staged, and I'm not
trying
to sway anyone's opinion, just reporting what I saw. Believe though that I
doubt anyone could have been more dissapointed than me when I saw the
contact
sheet in that biography, as Capa is still a hero of mine. I recall that the
rest of the roll didn't have any other combat frames on it either, though it
did have some group shots of the soldiers involved, including the one
supposedly catching the bullet.
 Oh well, it was years ago, and I could see how a joke on film or innocent
photographic goofing around with the soldiers he was with, shipped back to
New
York, could blow up into something irreversible before he knew it was even
published.

- --Dave Yoder