Images of War

The good weather on Sunday inspired us to head across town to visit the Jewish Historical Museum, to see an exhibition of works by Robert Capa. As the museum website says the “exhibition takes a broad look at the work of Robert Capa (1913-1954), the legendary war photographer and founder of modern photojournalism. His photos of the Spanish Civil War and D-Day are etched in everyone’s memory and have shaped our image of the twentieth century.”

A colleague at work told me about the exhibition, and it contained some powerful images. I did not consciously know of Capa before going, although as the introduction suggests, I have probably seen some of the more iconic images before. Capa’s power lay in capturing not so much the images of war, but of the people caught up in it. The exhibition was a series of strong black and white images that conveyed so much emotion. With informative display panels, it really was very interesting.

One panel noted a famous quote from Capa - "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough." The irony in this quote is that like many war photographers, Capa was ultimately killed in the filed when he stepped on a land mine.

Showing at the same time was an exhibition of photos by the Dutch photographer Eva Besnyö (1910-2003). As this bio notes, her work “has featured in countless publications and exhibitions. Yet after her death many still unknown and previously unpublished photos were discovered in her archive.” The current exhibition presents a selection of these photos, and includes portraits of women taken in the 1930s, photos of postwar reconstruction in the Netherlands and a series of portraits made in the 1940s and 50s of artists, writers and actors.

Both exhibitions are showing until 20 May, and if you are in Amsterdam are well worth a visit.

The image here is one of my own. It is the building opposite the Jewish Historical Museum. I don’t know what the building is, but I found the lines interesting, and with the brilliant blue spring sky, thought it was a nice shot.

Shane