The argument of Richard Whelan, where the soldiers were attacked because they called attention to hidden enemies, is pretty much acceptable. This based on the photo of the soldiers holding their rifles up and the data of not much going on in Cerro Muriano. However, because this was an area that was at war, we can accept the idea of  hidden enemies waiting to attack.

In my opinion Capa’s photograph is not staged and Whelan proves this in many ways, like by proving that Capa was in Cerro Muriano by comparing photos by Namuth and Reisner to Capa’s photos where same people were shown in the three photographers’ photos. Another important proof of this is the hand of the falling soldier, that appears curled toward the palm. This makes me think that if the photo was staged this soldier’s hand would break at that moment because his body would fall on top of his hand. I do think that the authenticity of the photos of the falling soldier matters because  it shows the world the face of war in a deep way, by showing how people fight and are prepared to lose their lives for their rights.