Robert Capa and the mystery of his “Mexican Suitcase”

[danielsterno]

Renowned photojournalist Robert Capa took hundreds of images of the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. Yet, in the ensuing 70 years, only a handful seemed to have survived. What became of those other images lies at the heart of the mystery of Capa's "Mexican Suitcase."

http://www.imaging-resource.com/new...-capa-and-the-mystery-of-his-mexican-suitcase

 

[miatab]

I believe they are with Hemingway's lost stories.

 

[hepcat]

Fascinating story! Thanks for posting that. It's amazing that, almost seventy years later, and having passed through all those hands in all those countries, the negatives and notebooks were intact as a set.

ON EDIT... Interesting stuff I didn't know...

September 1934
Gerta Pohorylle meets Hungarian-born Endre Ernö Friedmann, who calls himself André in Paris and later becomes Robert Capa.

Spring 1936
André and Gerta move to the Hôtel de Blois at Rue Vavin and invent the persona of Robert Capa, a famous and successful American photographer. Thereafter, Gerta presents André’s work under the pseudonym Robert Capa and she adopts the name Gerda Taro.

 

[meanstreetshooter]

Neg storage...

Neg storage...

It's interesting to see how negs were stored back in the 30s. I know that this practice continued until at least the middle 1940s, as all my Dad's WW2 negs (camera unknown) were stored this way and still are. I don't know why he did'nt print them up, except that he was glad he made it home, still in one piece, and probably wanted to forget about the war and get on with his life.

A few years back a old-time photographer gave me the formula for straightening the negs. It's on my "to do" list.

 

[KoNickon]

I saw an exhibit at the International Center for Photography in NYC last year or in 2011 on "the Mexican suitcase," with a lot of images reproduced. Very interesting indeed to see pictures taken literally minutes or seconds apart.

It's also a great story about how a valuable historical and artistic item managed to survive, almost purely by luck in some ways.

 

[ibcrewin]

The documentry is available on netflix. I started watching it late last night. Pretty interesting.

 

[swoop]

There's a documentary on Netflix Instant about the suitcase. It's worth the watch. I also saw the show at ICP so out was great to learn a little more about its significance and that period of history.

 

[Highway 61]

Online since 2008 :

http://www.zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/ziff/

I saw the show in Arles in 2011 ; now to be seen in Paris.

😉