Negatives of photographer Robert Capa found

(28 Jan 2008)
1. Wide exterior of the International Center of Photography (ICP)
2. Zoom in on ICP Curator examining rare photo negatives by photographer Robert Capa
3. Pan boxes of photo negatives by Capa, boxes known as "the Mexican suitcase"
4. Close-up of negatives in box
5. Zoom in on envelopes containing negatives
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Brian Wallis, Chief Curator at International Center of Photography:
"It's kind of the defining moment for understanding Robert Capa, but it's also a key moment in the history of photojournalism and war photography. This moment when Robert Capa and his companion Gerda Taro went to Spain to photograph the Spanish Civil War. What's particularly exciting, is this was the time when they really developed the protocols for representing modern warfare."
7. Zoom out from writing on box, labelling various battles captured on film
8. Close-up of rolls of negatives
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Brian Wallis, Chief Curator at International Center for Photography:
"Well one of the things we hope to learn from these negatives is the circumstance surrounding Robert Capa's most famous photograph, "The Falling Soldier," the image of a Spanish republican soldier as he's shot presumably at the moment of death, falling backwards. There has been some question about how and why that picture was taken, whether it was staged or so forth."
10. Mid-shot envelopes with negatives inside
11. Close-up of Capa's name on envelope
12. Zoom out of Wallis examining negatives
STORYLINE:
Photographic negatives taken by the legendary war photojournalist Robert Capa have resurfaced in New York City after nearly 70 years of being hidden from the public.
Capa, considered to be the twentieth century's greatest example of a war photographer, captured thousands of photos during the Spanish Civil War.
Before the Nazi's invaded Paris, Capa fled Europe for America in 1939 and left behind the negatives from those photos.
Many believed the boxes of negatives, known only as "the Mexican Suitcase," to be lost for good, but last month they were retrieved by New York's International Center of Photography (ICP).
Brian Wallis, Chief Curator at ICP, says the history of the negatives' journey isn't entirely certain, but they believe the photos left Paris with Capa's darkroom assistant on his way to Marseille.
He says that perhaps they were then handed over to a Mexican consul who took the boxes with him to Mexico.
A Mexican filmmaker then inherited the items and it was he who handed over the intact negatives to the ICP.
Wallis says a find like this means everything in trying to understand the era in which war photography took flight.
"It's kind of the defining moment for understanding Robert Capa, but it's also a key moment in the history of photojournalism and war photography. This moment when Robert Capa and his companion Gerda Taro went to Spain to photograph the Spanish Civil War. What's particularly exciting, is this was the time they developed the protocols for representing modern warfare," said Wallis at the ICP in New York.
The boxes also contain war images by Capa's partner, Gerda Taro and by his colleague David Seymour.
One of Capa's most famous images is "The Falling Soldier," which depicts a Spanish Republican soldier falling backwards at the exact moment that he was shot.
Controversy has surrounded the image for decades, with some critics saying it could have been staged, which was not an uncommon practice at the time.
Wallis says the chronological sequence of negatives could put an end, once and for all, to the debate.

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