Original title
Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936 The Falling Soldier is a historic photograph taken by Robert Capa, understood to have been taken on September 5, 1936 and depicting the death of Federico Borrell García, an anarchist Republican soldier during the Spanish Civil War. The full title of the photograph is Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936. There have long been allegations that the picture was staged.[1]
Recent research suggests that the picture was staged, and it is more conclusive in stating that it was not taken at the battle site of Cerro Muriano, but at nearby Espejo on a different date.[2]
[edit] History
According to some authors, Robert Capa's The Falling Soldier captures the moment of Borrell’s death. The soldier is seen collapsing backwards after having been shot. He appears in civilian-looking clothing but wearing a leather cartridge belt, and his rifle is slipping out of his right hand. Photographs taken earlier in the day appear to show the militiaman in life standing alongside his comrades in the Columna Alcoiana.
Capa’s photographs of the Loyalist militia at Cerro Muriano, including the picture of the militiaman, were first published in the September 23, 1936 issue of the French magazine Vu. Since then The Falling Soldier has been reproduced many times and has become a symbol of the Spanish Civil War. It is one of the most famous war photographs of all time.
[edit] Authenticity
While some authors claim that the photograph is authentic[3], others have stated that it was staged.[4] The 2007 documentary La sombra del iceberg claims that the picture was staged and that Borrell is not the individual in the picture.[5] In 2009 the Barcelona-based newspaper El Periódico reported the results of a study of the photograph which concluded that it was staged. [6]
Before the latest findings on the topic, some of those supporting the authenticity of the photograph had even suggested that Capa might have been responsible for the militiaman's death as the militiaman appeared to be posing for Capa when he was shot - possibly by a sniper.[7]
Richard Whelan in "This Is War! Robert Capa at Work" states:
The image, known as Death of a Loyalist militiaman or simply The Falling Soldier, has become almost universally recognized as one of the greatest war photographs ever made. The photograph has also generated a great deal of controversy. In recent years, it has been alleged that Capa staged the scene, a charge that has forced me to undertake a fantastic amount of research over the course of two decades. (Nota 3) I have wrestled with the dilemma of how to deal with a photograph that one believes to be genuine but that one cannot know with absolute certainty to be a truthful documentation. It is neither a photograph of a man pretending to have been shot, nor an image made during what we would normally consider the heat of battle.
—Richard Whelan in "This Is War! Robert Capa at work".
[edit] References
- ^ "Robert Capa 'faked' war photo new evidence produced". The Telegraph. September 21, 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/3042469/Robert-Capa-faked-war-photo-new-evidence-produced.html. Retrieved 2009-07-26. "Looking at the photos it is clear that it is not the heat of battle. It is likely the soldiers were carrying out an exercise either for Capa or themselves."
- ^ "What Spain Sees in Robert Capa's Civil War Photo". Time magazine. July 25, 2009. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1912110,00.html?loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r1:c0.10867:b26720696&xid=Loomia. Retrieved 2009-07-26. "While the new findings clearly establish where the famous shot was taken, not everyone believes they suggest it was a fraud. "The evidence certainly changes the photograph's location from Cerro Muriano to Espejo — there's no longer any question about that," says Cynthia Young, a curator at the International Center of Photography in charge of the Robert Capa and Cornell Capa Archive and one of the exhibition's organizers."
- ^ Richard Whelan (2002). Proving that Robert Capa's "Falling Soldier" is genuine: A detective story, American Masters.
- ^ Phillip Knightley (1975). The First Casualty: From the Crimea to Vietnam; The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker. New York: Harcourt, Brace
- ^ Autopsia al miliciano de Robert Capa
- ^ "Iconic Capa war photo was staged: newspaper"
- ^ Isabel Hilton (September 27, 2008). "The camera never lies. But photographers can and do". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/27/photography.pressandpublishing. Retrieved 2009-07-26. "Capa was a great photographer but he was not averse to faking. In 1937 he fabricated footage for the March of Time newsreel series. He told the Life photographer, Hansel Mieth, that the Borrell picture had been taken when the militiamen were fooling around, not in the heat of battle as had been believed. She added that Capa seemed upset and said little more except that it "haunted him badly". ... As Borrell stood to pose for Capa, he was cut down by a rebel bullet."
[edit] External links
