Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection

This is the first book to reproduce the definitive set of 937 rarely seen and classic images of Robert Capa, one of the most influential documentary photographers of the twentieth century.

Robert Capa (1913-54), one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century and a founding member of Magnum photographic agency, had the mind of a passionate and committed journalist and the eye of an artist. His lifework, consisting of more than 70,000 negative frames, constitutes an unparalleled documentation of a crucial 22-year period (1932-54) encompassing some of the most catastrophic and dramatic events of the last century. This book represents the most definitive selection of Capa?s work ever published, 937 photographs meticulously selected by his brother, Cornell Capa (himself a noted Life photographer), and his biographer, Richard Whelan.

The photographs, arranged in chronological order as stories and accompanied by brief commentaries, reveal the dramatic shifts in location and subject matter that Capa experienced from day to day — from war-torn Israel to Pablo Picasso on a sunny beach in France and from Ernest Hemingway carousing in London to Capa?s historic images of the Allied landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy in 1944.

"Handsomely produced, this selection of 937 photos, well-chosen by Richard Whelan and Capa's brother Cornell, is the best collection of the great photojournalist's work we are likely to get. Capa, a Hungarian who fled his country as a political exile after secret police spotted him talking to a Communist recruiter, had a knack for finding himself in, or seeking out, trouble spots. From Hungary he went to Berlin, then, after Hitler came to power, to France. But it was the places Capa went on assignment — like Spain during the Spanish Civil War (where he took his most famous photo, a Loyalist soldier caught at the moment a killing bullet sends his body flying backward), or the D-Day invasion of Normandy (where he photographed the first troops to land; 11 of the photos survive, the rest of the negatives were accidentally destroyed by a careless Life magazine technician) — that deservedly earned him the mark of the greatest of all war photographers." Charles Taylor, Salon.com

A selection of the photographs of Robert Capa. The 937 photographs were chosen by Capa's brother, Cornell Capa, and his biographer, Richard Whelan. They are arranged in chronological order and are accompanied by commentaries and identifying captions.

A visual documentary of the photographer's work. 937 duotone images selected by his brother, Cornell Capa and his biographer, Richard Whelan. The photos are arranged in chronological order and accompanied by commentaries and identiying captions.

Richard Whelan is an outstanding authority on Capa?s life and work. He is a New York-based independent cultural historian, and the author of several books including acclaimed biographies of Robert Capa and Alfred Stieglitz.