Capa's Fallen Soldier was a re-enactment...

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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dpurdy

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I read about this a couple years ago. It turns out that Capa was needing to do some work and nothing was happening so he did a photo shoot with this guy and a few other soldiers all in the same spot. I have seen several of the images and they were obviously just having photo day and trying it in different ways. There was no mention of it being a reinactment. It was just made up.
Dennis
 

Anscojohn

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Well, my understanding is the guy was killed by machine gun fire. His death is recorded for the militia unit with which he was fighting and the family was notified. The negative shows more of the scene. Capa was in a trench shooting up when the guy was hit. Whether he was moving up from behind the lines or just "acting" for a combat photograph's shot seems irrelevent to me.
 

dpurdy

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Ansco John, I really don't care either but I have seen a few versions of the same guy falling in different ways in the same spot.
 

Trask

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Maybe the long-rumored then found Capa negative that turned up in Mexico will shed some light on this. They were big news a year ago, but I've heard nothing since.
 

Anscojohn

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dpurdy said:
Ansco John, I really don't care either but I have seen a few versions of the same guy falling in different ways in the same spot.
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*******

I'd appreciate some kind of link or something so I cudlukitup. TIA
 

Anscojohn

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“Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936.”

If, as the site suggests, this is the original caption of the photograph, it sure seems to be 100% accurate. FWIW.
 

Will S

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This is totally inline with the original article I read and posted about a few years ago. I think if you search here it will turn up.

Will
 

JBrunner

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If it's a re-enactment, doesn't that mean they shot him twice?
 
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Michel Hardy-Vallée

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André E.C.

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Michel Hardy-Vallée said:
Who cares? Scores and scores of people who have quibbled about the photos over the year. But I'm just sayin', you know.
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Well, and who cares with those people? I certainly don't and the photo is and forever will be strong, staged or not.

I couldn't care less how the image was made, for me it's a powerful photograph, the rest is irrelevant.


PS- Good you care so much about those tormented souls who do care, have a nice weekend!




André
 
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Michel Hardy-Vallée

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Charity is my motto
 

dpurdy

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Well it took me a long time to find where I first read of this and to Ansco John I say my memory was wrong. It was several years ago I found the story in Aperture magazine and it wasn't the same guy falling it was different guys falling in exactly the same spot at such a close time that the clouds hadn't even moved. When I first read it years ago I skimmed it because I am not interested in journalism but this time I read the really long article completely and there are people who make claims both ways, including Capa himself always being coy with his answer. And the roll of film was shredded. The guy who wrote the article, I discovered this reading, was trying to claim that the soldier had actually been killed and the proof was that he appeared to be falling in a way no living person would fall.
Dennis
 
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