NYC center can't solve 73-year-old photo mystery

Google/AP ^

[JoeProBono]

Experts who examined a cache of long-lost photos from the 1930s Spanish Civil War say it yielded a lot of new information, but failed to solve the biggest mystery whether legendary photojournalist Robert Capa took the famous picture of a man at the instant he was killed by a bullet.

Answering that question was a principal goal of curators at the New York-based International Center of Photography when they first delved into the so-called Mexican Suitcase, a collection of 4,300 frames shot by Capa, his companion Gerda Taro and close friend David "Chim" Seymour. The negatives, long believed to have been lost, were rediscovered in Mexico in 1995. In December 2007, the aging black-and-white, 35 mm film arrived at the ICP in three cardboard boxes. Capa's legacy includes the so-called "falling soldier" photo, showing a Spanish Republican militiaman at the apparent moment he was hit by a fatal bullet.

Taken in September 1936, the third month of the war, the iconic picture has stirred controversy for decades, with Capa supporters defending it as authentic, but some critics suggesting it was too perfect not to have been staged. ICP experts came up empty in their search for the photo's negative. They found nothing in the collection that shows whether it definitely came from Capa's camera or whether it depicts a spontanous incident rather than one staged for dramatic effect.

[JoeProBono]

[cripplecreek]

If its authentic its a pretty amazing shot considering the fact that cameras weren’t nearly as prevalent then as they are now.

[americanophile]

Indeed.

[Brilliant]

If it was anything like what we have in the media today, the photographer handed the guy a gun and told him to pretend like he’d been shot.

[JoeProBono]

Robert Capa

[ScreamingFist]

ICP experts came up empty in their search for the photo's negative. They found nothing in the collection that shows whether it definitely came from Capa's camera or whether it depicts a spontanous incident rather than one staged for dramatic effect.

Apparently the "experts" have way too much time on their hands. Perhaps they should start with obviously photo-shopped pictures from Iran and Lebanon......

[Young Werther]

A close look at the photo reveals somethibng unusual! That dot is a Tin Goose. It was a secret, until now, but the Ford Trimotor was the first Air Farce One and the Spanish Civil War was the proving ground for many NAZI war machines the Air Farce One was on a secret recee mission. The Spanish Air Force would fly ME-109s and the US wanted to know!

[JoeProBono]

omaha beach by robert capa

[ccmay]

Sort of like the Al-Reuters photographer who carries around a pair of keys that he gives to elderly Palestinians for staged shots bemoaning the loss of their former homes.

[JoeProBono]

Or perhaps the "dot" was a blimp?

Robert Capa

[Lady Jag]

It’s easily explained. The soldier was sniped when he stood to get his photo taken.

If that mass on top of his head is what I think it is, it is further proof of sniping, suggesting the round came low from the other side of the hill that drops off to the soldier’s left.

[MileHi]

Darn good analysis of that photo.

[JoeProBono]

Yup. And all present had a good laugh.

Robert_Capa

[Lady Jag]

And Umbrella Man had a javelin in his ass.

[JoeProBono]

Not just any ass. That was Picasso's ass.

[Lady Jag]

It’s a little easier when you’ve done a lot of graphic analysis.

[Lady Jag]

That’s right. Picasso had javelin ass for most of his adult life

[Chode]

looks like he's letting go of his rifle to me, and i doubt anybody would throw their rifle on the ground just for a picture. unless it wasn't his rifle that is.

[Richard Kimball]

The mass on top of his head is a topknot or tassel, not brain matter. That’s been a topic of confusion for years.

[JoeProBono]

Matisse by Robert Capa