Robert Capa was born in Budapest, Hungary, on October 22, 1913. His parents, Jules and Flora (nee Fried), were both from Jewish families. His father was a successful businessman, and his mother was a homemaker. He had two older sisters, Lili and Eva. He was educated at the Piarist Gimnazium and the Deutsche Schule Budapest. In 1931, he left Hungary to study political science at the Sorbonne in Paris.
In 1933, Capa became a photojournalist for the French news agency, Agence Rol. He covered the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and the Spanish Civil War. In 1938, he moved to the United States and began working for Life magazine. He covered World War II for Life, and his photographs of the D-Day landing at Normandy are some of the most iconic images of the war.
After the war, Capa returned to Europe and covered the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He also photographed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. In 1947, he co-founded Magnum Photos with fellow photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson and David Seymour. Magnum is a cooperative photo agency owned by its member photographers.
Capa died in 1954 while on assignment in Indochina (now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). He was killed by a landmine. His death was a great loss to the world of photography.
Robert Capa was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. His images of war and conflict are some of the most memorable and powerful ever captured on film. He was a master of his craft, and his legacy continues to inspire photographers today.
Involved in love affair with Ingrid Bergman. The two met while Ingrid was overseas entertaining the troops during World War II. The romance was the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.
6
Took part in the D-Day landing - "armed" only with camera he was the only photographer in the first wave hitting the Omaha beach.
Movies
Camera Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Beat the Devil
1953
still photographer - uncredited
Notorious
1946
still photographer - uncredited
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Temptation
1946
Hamza
Cinematographer
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 400 Million
1939
Documentary
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 400 Million
1939
Documentary assistant: China
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Robert Capa, l'homme qui voulait croire à sa légende