All three were embedded firmly on the front lines, documenting the Republican cause while running through a hail of Nationalist bullets. The two, along with David Seymour (aka ‘Chim’) became famous for their coverage of the Spanish Civil War. The two met in 1934 and, wanting to avoid the anti-semitism and xenophobia so prevalent in early 20th century Europe, they agreed to change their names and produce work together under new names. The story of her name change from Pohorylle to Taro is one of the most famous in photography, and involves one André Friedmann, who would later be known as Robert Capa.

Gerda Taro was born Gerda Pohorylle on Augin Stuttgart, Germany to a middle-class Jewish family. Out of these three who contributed to the collection of the work, only person lost their life – Gerda Taro, who also happened to be the first female photojournalist to die on the frontlines. When we talk about the so-called “Mexican Suitcase,” a collection of over 4,000 film negatives made during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, there are three names that come up Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and Chim (David Seymour). So here are three stories of women who changed war photography forever. To organize an article just around our normal topics would be silly, as would cramming five of these incredible women into one measly article. At the same time, they contain some of the greatest instances of bravery, wit, and ingenuity. The stories of these women contain truly gut-wrenching vignettes of injustice, sexism, and tragedy that eclipse mere questions of photography and gear. It seemed like a straightforward enough task, until it wasn’t.Įven though information on these photojournalists was plentiful and easy to find, I found the content itself some of the most potent and personally affecting I’ve ever come across in photography. In the comments section of our “Five More Famous Photographers and the Gear They Used, Part Two” article, one reader mentioned that we should cover more women photojournalists and their gear, and provided a short list to check out. But on occasion, comment sections can yield something spectacular. “Don’t read the comments” is usually wise advice for writers of internet content.

Pemain film female war the pottery