Word: capa
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...CAPA'S CHILDHOOD WAS anything but normal. Born in Budapest in 1913 as Endre Friedmann, Capa had very little time to enjoy his Hungarian heritage before he was kicked out of the country for participating in leftist agitation against the authoritarian government. From the tender age of 17, Capa was by himself...
...this time in 1931, Capa did not own a camera nor did he have any means of obtaining one. On the edge of both starvation and the broomstick of his landlady he swallowed his pride enough to live off of distant relatives and faint acquaintances until he got himself a camera and began shooting. With no prior photographic experience, his early days as a photographer were anything but propitious. Capa was especially atrocious in the darkroom where he would often destroy his negatives and sometimes those of others. But it was in his eyes that his talent lay. He knew...
...Capa's future in Germany ended with the election of Hitler in 1933. As a leftist refugee, and even worse as a Jew, his physical safety was in danger every minute he stayed in Germany. He soon found his way to Paris where he again faced dire poverty. As Whelan points out in detail, Capa was broke most of his life. The need to make money was always paramount in Capa's mind even if he ended up wasting it away in food and wine...
...Paris, Capa refined his skills as a street-wise hustler who could and did get away with everything less than murder. He stole, lied, and "shot the moon," which was Capa's euphemism for skipping out of hotels without paying...
...Whelan astutely points out, this street-hustling nature of Capa was an invaluable part of Capa the photographer. A good photojournalist is one who is always at the right place at the right time. The bad photographer knows where and when but never seems to get the perfect shot. Capa, ever the smooth-talker, received assignments he shouldn't have and took pictures where he (supposedly) couldn't have...