Homework 3

After reading Proving that Robert Capa’s “Falling Soldier” is Genuine: A Detective Story by Richard Whelan I think his arguments are convincing and persuasive. At first there were a few points that convinced me that the picture was staged. First was the picture of the falling man and the other photo of a group of soldiers published on Vu. They seem to look like the same person, which meant the falling man was alive after the Capa’s picture was shot. The second point was the testimony of O.D Gallagher about sharing a room with Capa and hearing that he hadn’t gotten any good photos of the war so he was planning on faking it. I thought it was true because why would someone lie about something like that. Finally the third point that convinced me at first was that from art history I have noticed that most photos during wars where people seem to be perfectly caught were for the most part staged, a common practice at the time. An example is Home of the Rebel Sharpshooter by Alexander Gardner. After Whelan started to defend Capa I do not think that the photograph is staged. Firstly, when he presents the two photos of supposedly the same man he zooms up to them. they seem to look alike because they are wearing the same style of clothing. But if you look closely they are not the same man. Second when they interviewed Gallagher again he seemed not so sure about the story he told which means he was lying. Finally what really convinced me was when Whelan zoomed into the loyalist militiaman and you get to see his left hand. In the photo you see that his almost touching the floor with his behind and one foot is planted on the floor and the other is on the heel. No actor could have made the position so perfectly. Also if he was actually acting that he was falling and Capa took the photo quickly his hand would have been palms facing the floor and fingers out because that is out first reaction when we fall. Yet his fingers are curled slightly onto his palm because his muscles are contracting from the shock of the bullet. Another thing was when he did research about what Capa was doing on September 5,1936 and also the place Capa was standing as he took the famous picture. Its all evident that Capa was there and the picture was taken under warfare circumstances. I think authenticity matters because Capa was risking himself in the war to get a good photo so it at least deserves its recognition as the original best war photograph ever made.