While reading the analysis of Robert Capa’s Death of a Loyalist Soldier also known as The Falling Soldier, there were definitely a lot of discussions going on about this picture. I think that Robert Whelan’s arguments are convincing because who would really want to fake death. It makes for a good picture and good for publicity, but I don’t think he would fake a picture like this. I don’t think this photograph was staged because although it looks like there is an odd smile on his face, it looks like he has really been hit by a stray bullet. The photograph shows that he has been taken back by the bullet and could not seem the least bit fake to me. This controversial photo reminds me of the war photo by Alexander Gardner, Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, Gettysburg, July 1863. These two pictures have the same concept and have plenty of discussions about whether they were staged or not. This goes to show even 70 years later there are still arguments as to whether or not photographs have been staged or not. at this point, I believe that both photos were not staged and these photographers wouldn’t go through so much to “fake” such photos.
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I completely agree with you! Even though it might have been staged, I believe it is actually authentic. In the photograph, the soldier is seen with his fingers towards his palms and that is because it is a reflex the body can do when they are falling or in pain. I actually think it may also be morally wrong for a person to fake their own death just for publicity as well. Especially if no other photographers has done this. I also like how you compared the photograph to the “Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter.” That was my immediate thought when I was reading the article because they were so similar in that they are both pictures during a war. They both have controversies behind them making people debate whether they were staged or not. And they also both show a person who are dying with a gun around them.