"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 universallanguage: 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.