The great significance of Córdoba and Andalucía in the professional career of Robert Capa as a war photographer goes on steadily increasing more and more every day.
elrectanguloenlamano.blogspot.com has discovered the authorship and location of another new photograph made by Robert Capa on September 5, 1936
in Villa Alicia estate, approximately 1 km away from Cerro Muriano village (Córdoba Province), in the southwest.
This image
appears in the book Spanish People´s Fight For Their Freedom by A. Ramos
Oliveira (edited in 1937 by the service of publications of the Spanish Embassy
in London), without indicating either the author of the photograph or the exact
place in which it was taken.
This picture
belongs to the series made by Robert Capa and Gerda Taro in Villa Alicia estate
around 12:30 h of midday of September 5, 1936 during the harangue given by two
different militiamen chiefs to abundant CNT and FAI anarchist militiamen from
Alcoy (Alicante) and other Andalusian civilian combatants who are also present
in this spot.
And it is the
first picture made by Robert Capa to Enrique Vañó Nicomedes, Secretary of the
Alcoy CNT, during his impassioned speech striving after encouraging them before
combat, when it´s around half an hour for them to face the Francoist troops
from the Army of Africa, coming from Córdoba city, who are about to attack
them.
The second picture that Robert Capa gets of Enrique Vañó Nicomedes a few seconds after this one and whose authorship and location was also discovered by elrectanguloenlamano.blogspot.com is explained in:
It´s truly
impressive the degree of embodiment in Robert Capa of what the historian
William Manchester called essential instinct for the capturing of great
pictures, something that can´t be learnt, you have to be born with it and which
first and foremost consists of possessing an intuitive gift for knowing
precisely when to push the shutter release button of the camera, a side in
which there have been other prominent specialists like Marc Riboud, Werner
Bischof, etc.
In this image
Capa has photographed Enrique Vañó Nicomedes well into his harangue, with his
mouth open and a fiery countenance, speaking in a very loud voice.
These are
moments of huge emotional intensity, in which Capa photographs with great
mastery and sensitivity what war is about and the cauldron of parallel feelings
invading the mind of the ones taking part in it, along with the physical
reactions it brings about: the hatred and stress at their utmost degree, the
fear of death, the pouring out sweat, the accelerating heart rate, the
remembrances of a whole life flowing into the head as a movie, the thinking
about the beloved relatives whom they won´t probably see again, their women and
children that could be defenceless, etc.
It´s a
heartrending and terrible scene, specially apparent in the militiamen located
on the right of the picture:
- The militiaman
placed under Enrique Vañó Nicomedes´s (who is standing on a large wooden
barrel) is drying the saliva flowing profusely through his lips because of the
restlessness.
- The militiaman
just by him, wearing a clear shirt and dark jacket, has his face slightly
upward, but he isn´t looking at Enrique Vañó Nicomedes, but in introspective
attitude and highly worried, with his mouth opened and leaning his right elbow
and forearm on the wooden cask, while another militiaman placed on his left
appears with his arms crossed and not looking at the anarchist chief, but
thinking for himself.
- The militiaman
located between the one clad in dark jacket and the one with his arms crossed,
isn´t looking at the anarchist leader either. He has got his gaze lost, with
his eyes slightly oriented towards Bob´s left, his mouth is open and his face
gesture reveals tons of anxiety, while the civil fighter in dark beret and
white shirt just behind him has his head low and is rubbing his nails because
of the nervousness.
- On his turn, the
militiaman clad in clear garment located between Enrique Vañó Nicomedes´s left
leg and the militiaman wearing dark jacket, is rubbing his face with his left
hand as a consequence of the huge jitteriness, concern and also to wipe his sweat
off.
- Just behind him
we can see an exceedingly young militiaman being approximately 14 years old,
with his head under the lower left area of the window of a small truck visible
in the background. This teenager´s countenance appears very convulsed and
showing great uneasiness, while the militiaman just by him with unshaved
stubble of some days, is looking at the speaker with bated breath.
- Finally, another
very young militiaman being around 16 years old, is leaning his back on the
right forward area of the little truck cabin. He´s wearing clear clothes and a
jacket hanging from his left shoulder. This boy is looking anxiously at the
anarchist chief giving the harangue, paying top attention to his words, and he
will emotionally cave in a few seconds later, moment that will be photographed
by Capa in the second picture he gets of Enrique Vañó Nicomedes during his
speech and in which can be seen that this same very young militiaman has
lowered his head and appears visibly worried.
On the other
hand, the picture features two further highly symbolic elements:
a) The nearest
militiaman to Capa, wearing clear clothes and appearing in the lower left half
of the image (with his upper right arm and his face right side towards the
photographer). He is holding a cigarette (perhaps the last one he will be able
to smoke). This militiaman with goatee and moustache, will cave in a few seconds later and he will be captured by Capa in deep introspection, probably
thinking of his family and with his eyes closed in the second picture he gets
of Enrique Vañó Nicomedes just after this one.
b) The left arm
(with its hand leaning on the cask) appearing from the lower left side of the
picture. It belongs to a CNT anarchist militiaman clad in dark garment who can
be seen complete from the waist up in the second photograph that Capa takes of
Enrique Vañó Nicomedes during this harangue.
The scene is
certainly harrowing and depicts a highly representative moment. This is war
photojournalism in its purest essence.
Capa realizes
the truly uncommon context: militiamen who are first and foremost civilian
combatants coming from the most different occupations (masons, peasants,
plumbers, electricians, print workers, carpenters, textile industry workers,
cobblers, etc), with barely any military instruction or prowess in the handling
of guns, who are going to fight against the professional Francoist troops of
the Army of Africa, featuring long combat experience in colonial war in
Morocco, and who are manifestly more skillful in the use of firearms, as well
as sporting a far superior combat morale and adaptation ability for the
circumstances of battles.
In addition, the two exceedingly young militiamen appearing by the little truck (the one on the right being around 14 years old and the one on the right being around 16 years old) have come here by their own choice. They haven´t had childhood and very probably have been working from sunrise to sunset since they were 8 or 9 years old, in the same way as the rest of men appearing in the image, in exchange for miserable salaries, with deplorable working conditions marked by the overcrowding, the lack of hygiene, the high risk of accidents because of the intentional non existence of investment by their eager bosses on the adequate security measures to increase the margins of profits, the lack of any medical insurances, very high illiteracy rates and the steady threat of being dismissed at the minimal protest.
In addition, the two exceedingly young militiamen appearing by the little truck (the one on the right being around 14 years old and the one on the right being around 16 years old) have come here by their own choice. They haven´t had childhood and very probably have been working from sunrise to sunset since they were 8 or 9 years old, in the same way as the rest of men appearing in the image, in exchange for miserable salaries, with deplorable working conditions marked by the overcrowding, the lack of hygiene, the high risk of accidents because of the intentional non existence of investment by their eager bosses on the adequate security measures to increase the margins of profits, the lack of any medical insurances, very high illiteracy rates and the steady threat of being dismissed at the minimal protest.
Capa (who is
using a Leica II Model D with Leitz Elmar 5 cm f/3.5 lens and a Leica III with
Leitz Summar 5 cm f/2) and Gerda Taro (who is also present in Villa Alicia
estate and gets some pictures with her medium format 2 ¼ x 2 ¼ Old Standard
Rolleiflex with Carl Zeiss Jena 7,5 cm f/3.5) perceive the great photojournalistic,
historical and social relevance of what is happening, and inevitably make
themselves the question:
What can lead
people belonging to civil society to take up arms and risk their lives fighting
against professional troops, with a very high probability of being killed in
combat?
What makes them
pluck up the remarkable courage they need to face a far superior enemy from a
military viewpoint and whose high commanding officers have a combat experience
in Morocco dating back to early twenties?
This image epitomizes
very clearly not only the excellent accuracy in the timing on pressing the
shutter release button of the camera, but also photojournalistic compromise to
spare, to be in the adequate place and in the adequate moment, remarkable ability to perceive the most defining instants and get great pictures like this one, along with many other
things, who made Cornell Capa renounce to his career as a professional photographer
to devote his life to the preservation of the immense and historical photographic legacy of his
brother.
© José Manuel Serrano Esparza.
Inscribed in the Territorial Registry of the Intellectual Property of Madrid.
Hankou (China), April 29, 1938: Robert Capa Photographs Civil Population Warching Aerial Combats
Hankou (China), April 29, 1938: Robert Capa Photographs Civil Population Warching Aerial Combats
