Cornell Capa
| Cornell Capa | |
|---|---|
 portrait by Barbara Bordnick | |
| Born |
Kornél Friedmann[1] April 10, 1918 Budapest, Austria-Hungary |
| Died |
May 23, 2008 (aged 90) New York, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Photography, curator |
| Movement | Art and Photography |
Cornell Capa (April 10, 1918 – May 23, 2008) was a Hungarian American photographer, member of Magnum Photos, photo curator, and the younger brother of photo-journalist and war photographer Robert Capa. Graduating from Imre Madách Gymnasium in Budapest, he initially intended to study medicine, but instead joined his brother in Paris to pursue photography. Cornell was an ambitious photo enthusiast who founded the International Center of Photography in New York in 1974[2] with help from Micha Bar-Am after a stint of working for both Life magazine and Magnum Photos.
Life
Born as Kornél Friedmann[1] in Budapest, he moved, aged 18, to Paris to work with his elder brother Robert Capa, a photo-journalist.[3] In 1937, Cornell Capa moved to New York City to work in the Life magazine darkroom.[4] After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Capa became a Life staff photographer in 1946. The many covers that Capa shot for the magazine included portraits of television personality Jack Paar, painter Grandma Moses, and Clark Gable.
In May 1954, Robert Capa was killed by a landmine, while covering the final years of the First Indochina War. He joined Magnum Photos, the photo agency co-founded by his brother, the same year. For Magnum, Capa covered the Soviet Union, Israeli Six-Day War, and American politicians.
Beginning in 1967, Capa mounted a series of exhibits and books entitled The Concerned Photographer. The exhibits led to his establishment in 1974 of the International Center of Photography in New York City.[2] Capa served for many years as the director of the Center. Capa has published several collections of his photographs including JFK for President, a series of photographs of the 1960 presidential campaign that he took for Life magazine. Capa also produced a book documenting the first 100 days of the Kennedy presidency, with fellow Magnum photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson and Elliott Erwitt.
Capa died in New York City on May 23, 2008, of natural causes at the age of 90.[5]
Works
Capa's work is often considered quite eclectic, capturing moments as large of scale as wars to everyday subtle gestures of life, from the Six-Day War[6] to children playing stick ball in the street. Capa wrote, "It took me some time to realize that the camera is a mere tool, capable of many uses, and at last I understood that, for me, its role, its power, and its duty are to comment, describe, provoke discussion, awaken conscience, evoke sympathy, spotlight human misery and joy which otherwise would pass unseen, un-understood and unnoticed. I have been interested in photographing the everyday life of my fellow humans and the commonplace spectacle of the world around me, and in trying to distill out of these their beauty and whatever is of permanent interest." [7]
In 1968 Capa published a book called The Concerned Photographer. As evidenced in his work, this title sums up his approach to photojournalism. Among the many events and causes Capa documented were the oppression of the Perón regime in Argentina and the subsequent revolution, Israel's Six-Day War, the plight of the Russian Orthodox Church under Soviet rule, and the education of mentally retarded children.[8] He also took great interest in politics and documented the presidential campaigns of Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy, along with Kennedy's first one hundred days in office.[8]
Capa wrote forewords to several collections of his brother's photographs and was known to be protective of Robert Capa's memory and reputation. For example, when Robert Capa's famous image of a falling Spanish soldier during the Spanish Civil War was claimed to be a fake and not taken at the moment of death, Cornell Capa entered into a long battle to establish the legitimacy of the photograph, including tracking down the name of the soldier and his date of death.
Awards
- Honor Award from the American Society of Magazine Photographers (1975)[2]
- Leica Medal of Excellence (1986)[2]
- Peace and Culture Award, Sokka Gakkai International, Japan (1990)[2]
- The Order of the Arts and Letters, France (1991)[2]
- The Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) in recognition of a sustained, significant contribution to the art of photography in 1994.[9]
- The Distinguished Career in Photography Award from the Friends of Photography (1995)[2]
- Lifetime Achievement Award in Photography from the Aperture Foundation (1999)[2]
References
- 1 2 "Capa, Robert". Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "In Memoriam: Cornell Capa" International Center of Photography. 16 Nov 2009
- ↑ "Cornell Capa: 'Concerned' photographer". The Independent. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- ↑ "Cornell Capa, Photographer And ICP Founder, Dies At 90". Photo District News. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- ↑ Gefter, Philip (2008-05-24). "Cornell Capa, Photographer, Is Dead at 90". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ↑ "Jewish Virtual Library". Cornell Capa. American Jewish Historical Society. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ↑ Capa, Cornell. Camera. October 1963, no. 10, pp. 3-4.
- 1 2 Gefter, Philip. "Cornell Capa, Photographer, Is Dead at 90" New York Times 24 May 2008, accessed 16 Nov 2009
- ↑ Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Award Accessed 13 August 2012