This week I attended the Atlas Gallery in London to view an exhibition by Robert Capa, the renowned war photographer from the 1940′s and 1950′s (he also photographed the Spanish Civil war in the 1930s). The exhibition highlighted for me the amazing lengths photographers will go to ‘get the shot’.
In particular his sequence of photographs taken during the D-day landings on Omaha beach were as exquisite as they were horrific. Capa had gone in with the first wave and had turned his back on the source of the enemy fire to take images of men trapped in the sea and fighting their way onto dry land under a hail of hot metal. These images are truly iconic and instantly recognisable and were used as the inspiration for the first 20 minutes of the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Incredibly poignant when viewed on the 69th anniversary of the event itself.
Whilst Capa lost his life to a land mine in1954 he was followed by some equally intrepid ‘togs’ who are today in the war zones of the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan to name but two. They still follow conflict and whilst today’s technology allows for pristine quality compared to the grainy, slightly out of focus shots by Capa and his colleagues, the danger does not diminish. In fact in Syria alone 23 journalists and 54 citizen journalists (locals to you and me) have been killed since March 2011 when the war began and many veterans will tell you that since Bosnia they have become fair game for either side if perceived to be “beneficial to the other side” in any way
These people are the eyes and ears of society at a time of news overload and it is quite often after the event when the still photographs are released as a collection or footage is shown on TV that the true story appears. The humanising of events and the lapse of time allow the audience to appreciate what has happened, consider what they’ve seen, and in some cases, do something about it. The setting up of the charity ICBL (International Campaign to Ban Landmines) being a case in point.
Businesses whilst a legal entity are made up of individuals and should be looking at what they can do. Charitable donations can be claimed against corporation tax and working ethically can protect the populations of war torn countries.
So let’s remember what the men that Capa photographed were fighting for: freedom of speech and a safer world; AND while we are at it, use the tax laws to HELP society, not by tax avoidance, but by claiming relief for doing good things.
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