Photojournalism Part II

Robert Capa

Most famous for taken the 'ultimate' decisive moment photographs, Robert Capa was a young, handsome and brilliant photographer. Many men envied him. Robert had two rules when it came down to taking photos, Get close and Get closer. Capa followed soilders while fighting in the World War and took photos of them in action, photography meant that much to him that he would risk his own life for the perfect photos. a photo which many people know him best for, is of a soilder being shot dead as the bullet hits him in the chest, this is probably one of the most famous photos Capa has ever taken. Capa is a historical photographer, his photos gave the public a view into the war, a chance to really see what it was like out there, instead of the sugar coated images and stories published before hand. Capa had nothing to hide. 

Tony Vaccaro

Tony Vaccaro wasn't just a photographer, he was also a soilder. he battled, and fought as well as taking photographs. In one hand, he had his gun and the other his camera. Like Capa, Vaccaro also captured images of soilders dying, and suffering, but in my opinion Vaccaro's images were far more disturbing, as you can see the blank expressions on the fallen soilders faces, while lying dead on the floor. Some missing limbs, some burnt, and some blown apart. In most cases, Tony was being shot at on the frontline as he was taking photos, it showed his dedication to photography, and in one of the many reasons while he'll go down in history. Amazingly, Vaccaro developed his own photos while on the battlefield, he used soilders helmets and chemicals he found at a blown up camera store to develope them on his own.



When these war photographs started being published it stirred up a fuss to the people at home as people could actually see photographic eveidence of the events which were taking place out in vietnam. It didn't seem that patriotic anymore, no one was proud of what was happening. Photos were released of men with their heads blown apart, and their limbs missing, it wasn't the image people had in their heads of war, it was almost the opposite. One photo inparticular which caused a lot of problems was the photo of an American soilder executing a vietnamese civilian, it showed the brutality of war. The image captured was of the bullet from the soilders gun, colliding with the vietnamese civilians head, you can see the pain in his eyes as you look at the photo. The thing that was so wrong with this photo is that it showed how heartless the men in the war were, killing innocent men for no reason. It changed a lot of peoples views on the war, and a lot of people weren't so keen on sending out soilders to fight anymore.