The Mexican Suitcase

Hard to figure whey they show the images as scanned rather than do very simple tonal adjustments (density/contrast..). I mean if they were printing in a darkroom they would certainly make the best prints possible. Also, too bad they don't get into how they distinguish between the images by Capa, Taro, and Seymour. Could it be exclusively on the basis of style? I doubt it. If the negs were identified in the suitcases by photorapher, it would have been nice if they had said so.
 
There is some information written inside the suitcases, but I can't read it. But maybe this is only about the time and place they were shot and does not give information about who took them?
 
You guys should look at the short story printed in the NY Times. As it did a good job of explaining the contents and showed a couple of examples. The story was titled... From "Battered Boxes, New Works by Photography's Old Masters" in "The Arts" section on Thursday April 30. The main emphasis is on how much great unknown work by David Seymour...aka "Chim" Also the other interesting twist here is the body of unknown work by Capa's girlfriend.

Gerda Taro. she was killed when run over by a Tank during a Spanish Civil War battle. The NY Times story published on of the "freshest" images I have ever seen from that period of time. A shot of the Dead in the Morgue in Valencia 1937. The blood on the floor, and the bodies are so freshly captured in the image that it could have shot yesterday ! This will most likely be the largest body of work found for Taro ever. The story goes to great length to explain that these rolls of film are so clearly documented. It appears that they were tagged with the name of shooter. Next year it seems there will be a big show.

What many people do not seem to appreciate is that the friendship between Capa and Hemingway resulted in stories by Capa being the backbone of storyline for creation of "For Whom the Bell Tolls".

I find the opportunity to see "Chim's" work elevated to a proper level of respect as he was also the background man behind HCB's prints. Not to mention his foundational role at Magnum. Capa and Chim seem to have been cut from the same cloth...so to speak. This should also result in a great book, I hope. So I suggest to access this story it was really great.

All the Best....Laurance
 
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