Capa, Robert. The first wave of American troops lands at dawn. France. 1944. Magnum Photos.
Robert Capa is a Hungarian-born photojournalist. His most famous saying was “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” Capa’s most famous work is the documentation of Omaha Beach in Normandy during WWII. This specific photo captures the first wave of American troops landing on the beach on the day that is now known as D-Day. In this photo, soldiers are fighting at the shore. We can see that some are down in the water, presumably injured or dead. Capa took this shot right in the middle of battle where he could have been severely injured or killed, showing his dedication to documentary photography.
The Magnificent Eleven: The D-Day Photographs of Robert Capa. Accessed February 28, 2021. http://www.skylighters.org/photos/robertcapa.html.
Capa, Robert. The first wave of American troops lands at dawn. France. 1944. Magnum Photos. https://pro.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL535353
Sebastiao Salgado is a Brazilian-born photographer who mostly does photos in black and white. He travels around the world to document the “poor and powerless” and the adverse affects of globalization. I chose this photo of a dead person in front of an oil well in Kuwait because I think it embodies Salgado’s mission very well. Kuwait is one of the world’s top oil producers, exporting oil to many countries around the world. This deceased person must have worked in the oil fields and either lost his life due to the harsh conditions or by an oil fire which was common in the 90s. This image strongly supports that while globalization has many positive sides, there are adverse side effects that come with globalization that take many lives of those who work in the harshest conditions to support the globalized world.
Salgado, Sebastiao. Kuwait. 1991. Sungaram Tagore Gallery. New York City. https://www.artsy.net/artwork/sebastiao-salgado-kuwait-7
Good, thorough commentary.