Robert Capa, whose images of the Spanish Civil War brought home the hideous suffering of that conflict and brought Capa international fame, is the 20th century's most accomplished photographer of warfare. This collection of Capa's work demonstrates that he was more than a war photographer: he was a master of depicting ordinary life in extraordinary circumstances. The volume includes an essay by Cornell Capa, the photographer's brother and the founder of the International Center for Photography, as well as a foreword by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

From Publishers Weekly
Capa's (1913-1954) photographs have become icons of the horrors and futility of war. This volume contains some of his most dramatic pictures of the battles he covered?the Spanish Civil War, the Japanese invasion of China in 1938, the European theater during WWII, the Israeli War for Independence in 1948 and the French-Indochina War. Capa risked his life to capture these images, going ashore in Normandy with the first wave of troops to hit Omaha Beach on D-Day, parachuting into Germany with American troops in 1945 and accompanying French soldiers on a mission in Vietnam, where he was killed when he stepped on a land mine. Whelan (Alfred Stieglitz: A Biography) points out that Capa showed sympathy for soldiers and civilians on both sides of every conflict, and the compassionate aspect of his work is underscored by the inclusion of sensitive pictures that have nothing to do with war, such as scenes of Chinese children playing in the snow and a U.S. medic treating a German soldier in 1943. This beautifully produced book is a fitting tribute to one of the great photographers of our time. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Capa ranks among the century's most important photographers, yet this book is the first complete retrospective of his work. All the elements of fine photography?control of tones, composition, gathering light, and the nonintrusive presence of the camera?are found in Capa's work. Moreover, the photographer seemed to enjoy a special link to those he photographed, a characteristic that makes so many of his prints memorable and understandable to viewers. This book speaks of Capa's empathy and respect for his subjects, from strangers in the shadows of war to dear friends sharing joy. Capa had his finger on the camera's shutter at the perfect moment to capture a reality as cruel as a Loyalist militiaman taking a deadly bullet in the Spanish Civil War or as spirited as a children's snowball fight. Including a brief foreword by Henri Cartier-Bresson and a remembrance by Capa's brother, Cornell, this volume demonstrates Capa's artistic achievement with the full range of his images and the moods they capture in crisp reproductions. Highly recommended as a significant addition to any library collection.?David Bryant, New Canaan P.L., Ct.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Rosemary Ranck
Humor and warmth animate these pictures, as well as tragedy and loss ...

From Booklist
In September 1936, Capa earned the sobriquet, "the Greatest War Photographer in the World," that stuck to him ever after when he captured a just-shot Spanish civil warrior's dying fall--an image as familiar as any in photography's history. The young Hungarian exile understood that photographing war indelibly was less a matter of showing the fighting than of finding intimate moments affected by it. He continued finding such instants during warfare in Spain, China, Italy, France, Israel, and Vietnam, where in 1954 he was killed by a land mine. This selection of his best evokes a shock of recognition. Capa's photos have influenced our ingrained conception of the twentieth century's sad and violent second quarter. This is how 1930^-60 Europe and Asia look in the mind's eye. The album also shows that Capa appreciated everyday peacetime life and that he made famous friends: another of his best-known pictures shows old man Picasso at the beach, bearing an umbrella over young Francoise Gilot as she strides forward yet focusing not on her but on the camera lens. Ray Olson

Midwest Book Review
Robert Capa: Photographs is a major retrospective of incredible poetic and visual artistry with a camera. In these photographs we see the world through the eyes of a committed humanist and documentarian. Robert Capa: Photographs includes poignant comments by Capa's close friend Henri Cartier-Bresson and by Capa's younger brother Cornell Capa (who is the Founding Director of the International Center of Photography), as well as an historical essay by Robert Capa biographer Richard Whelan. The dramatic collection of images in Robert Capa: Photographs shows that he captured the very heart of humanity through "snapshots in time" of the 20th Century historical events through which he lived and experienced first-hand. Robert Capa: Photographs will be of intense interest to photographers, historians, and the general-nonspecialist reader interested in seeing through the artist's lens, views of the world that tell of the triumphs and tragedies, the comedies and strengths of ordinary men and women.

Review
"Robert Capa: Photographs reminds us that the man who more or less invented war photography was also a sensitive portraitist." --New York magazine

"A splid retrospective." --Herbert Kupferberg, Parade magazine

"In an almost novelistic fashion, the pictures--presented chronologically--tell as much about the photographer as they do about the times Capa was chronicling." --Margarett Loke, ARTnews

"His coverage of the Spanish civil war established Capa's reputation as a peerless battlefield photojournalist... But he was also a man who loved making pictures of beautiful women, famous men and grand parties. Often overlooked when discussing the Capa legacy, those too, were his life's work. Both Capas--the raconteur of high society and the fearless witness to war--are evident in Robert Capa: Photographs. The two sides of Capa's work may seem irreconcilable, but they're not. He was recording one world. His own." --Allison Adato, Life magazine


Review
"Robert Capa: Photographs reminds us that the man who more or less invented war photography was also a sensitive portraitist." --New York magazine

"A splid retrospective." --Herbert Kupferberg, Parade magazine

"In an almost novelistic fashion, the pictures--presented chronologically--tell as much about the photographer as they do about the times Capa was chronicling." --Margarett Loke, ARTnews

"His coverage of the Spanish civil war established Capa's reputation as a peerless battlefield photojournalist... But he was also a man who loved making pictures of beautiful women, famous men and grand parties. Often overlooked when discussing the Capa legacy, those too, were his life's work. Both Capas--the raconteur of high society and the fearless witness to war--are evident in Robert Capa: Photographs. The two sides of Capa's work may seem irreconcilable, but they're not. He was recording one world. His own." --Allison Adato, Life magazine


Review
"Robert Capa: Photographs reminds us that the man who more or less invented war photography was also a sensitive portraitist." --New York magazine

"A splid retrospective." --Herbert Kupferberg, Parade magazine

"In an almost novelistic fashion, the pictures--presented chronologically--tell as much about the photographer as they do about the times Capa was chronicling." --Margarett Loke, ARTnews

"His coverage of the Spanish civil war established Capa's reputation as a peerless battlefield photojournalist... But he was also a man who loved making pictures of beautiful women, famous men and grand parties. Often overlooked when discussing the Capa legacy, those too, were his life's work. Both Capas--the raconteur of high society and the fearless witness to war--are evident in Robert Capa: Photographs. The two sides of Capa's work may seem irreconcilable, but they're not. He was recording one world. His own." --Allison Adato, Life magazine


Book Description
Robert Capa: Photographs is the first true retrospective book of one of the century's greatest photographers. Drawing upon hundreds of previously unseen images, this collection reveals Capa as one of the great poets of the camera. In these photographs, we see through the eyes of a driven humanist who was also a documentarian of the highest caliber. While previous volumes on Capa have focused on his role as a war photographer, Robert Capa: Photographs shows us the remarkable range of his work, which encompasses the sufferings as well as the tenderness, humor and wonder of his subjects.

Robert Capa demonstrated not only a passionate commitment to improving the human condition, but also an unfailing eye for graphic impact. Although his photographs remain the definitive visual records of such momentous events as the siege of Madrid, the bombing of Hankou, and the Allied landings on D-day, many of his images have a timeless and universal quality that transcends the specifics of history. A Spanish soldier recoils at the impact of a bullet, the final instant of his life. In a scene of perfect joy, a group of Chinese children laugh at the sky as snow begins to fall. Four farm workers, hauling all the belongings they can manage, trudge grimly away from an apocalyptic backdrop of smoke and ruins: their war-devastated homes.

Capa's images reveal his profound compassion and perceptiveness about our tenuous human state. As Cornell Capa (Robert's younger brother and the Founding Director Emeritus of the International Center of Photography) writes in his eloquent remembrance: "He managed to travel all over the world, and to communicate his experience and feelings through a universal language: photography." Robert Capa: Photographs also includes a foreword by Capa's close friend Henri Cartier-Bresson, as well as an informative historical essay by Capa biographer Richard Whelan.

At last, here is the book that reveals Robert Capa in a new light. The extraordinary collection of images in Robert Capa: Photographs brings us--through the events of history--to the very heart of humanity.


About the Author
Robert Capa was born 1913 in Budapest. Driven from Hungary by political oppression, Capa was first recognized for photographing the Spanish Civil War. In 1938 he was in China recording the Japanese invasion; and during World War II he was in London, North Africa, and Italy, and then in France covering D-Day on Omaha Beach, the liberation of Paris, and the Battle of the Bulge. When the new nation of Israel was founded in 1948, he was there. Away from the battle site, Capa was surrounded throughout his life by such luminaries as Ernest Hemingway, Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, and Pablo Picasso. In 1954, on assignment for Life magazine, Capa went to Vietnam, where he was killed by stepping on a land mine.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Foreword by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Introduction by Richard Whelan.

A classic retrospective anthology of the master photographer.

In these photographs, we see the world through the eyes of a driven humanist who was an artist as well as a documentarian of the finest caliber. Robert Capa: Photographs is the first true retrospective book of one of the century's greatest photographers. Drawing upon hundreds of previously unseen images, this collection reveals Capa in a new light — as one of the true poets of the camera. While previous volumes have focused on his role as a war photographer, Robert Capa: Photographs shows us the remarkable range of his work, which encompasses the sufferings as well as the tenderness, humor, and wonder of his subjects.

Photographs includes a foreword by Capa's close friend Henri Cartier-Bresson, as well as an informative historical essay by Capa biographer Richard Whelan.

Robert Capa was born in Budapest in 1913. He was first recognized for his photographs of the Spanish Civil War. On assignment for Life magazine in 1954, Capa was killed in Vietnam.

"Robert Capa: Photographs reminds us that the man who more or less invented war photography was also a sensitive portraitist." (New York magazine)

"A splendid retrospective." (Herbert Kupferberg, Parade magazine)

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Capa's (1913-1954) photographs have become icons of the horrors and futility of war. This volume contains some of his most dramatic pictures of the battles he coveredthe Spanish Civil War, the Japanese invasion of China in 1938, the European theater during WWII, the Israeli War for Independence in 1948 and the French-Indochina War. Capa risked his life to capture these images, going ashore in Normandy with the first wave of troops to hit Omaha Beach on D-Day, parachuting into Germany with American troops in 1945 and accompanying French soldiers on a mission in Vietnam, where he was killed when he stepped on a land mine. Whelan (Alfred Stieglitz: A Biography) points out that Capa showed sympathy for soldiers and civilians on both sides of every conflict, and the compassionate aspect of his work is underscored by the inclusion of sensitive pictures that have nothing to do with war, such as scenes of Chinese children playing in the snow and a U.S. medic treating a German soldier in 1943. This beautifully produced book is a fitting tribute to one of the great photographers of our time. (Sept.)

Library Journal