Re: [Rollei] Capa documentary

[Don Williams <dwilli10 >]

At 07:34 AM 5/29/2003 -0400, Phil Stiles wrote:
>The Robert Capa documentary was a real treat. I'm not as harsh a critic as 
>the Globe, and I thought it was great.
>http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/148/living/Portrait_of_Capa_is_flawed+.shtml
>Much to my surprise, Rolleis were frequently seen with Capa. In one shot 
>he has three hanging off various straps.  I tuned in late, but counted 
>about eight shots of Capa with Rollei, and maybe three with Leica. I wish 
>I'd taped the show; catch it if you can.

I was working and forgot all about it.  I saw the last half, then found 
that my wife had taped the whole thing.  She had already made the 
connections between Capa and Ingrid Bergman, and the linkage shown in the 
movie "Rear Window" between Capa and Jimmy Stewart and between Bergman and 
Grace Kelly.  Truly art imitating life.

There is even a segment in "Rear Window" in which Stewart refers to dirty 
combat boots and jeeps, and there is a similar phrase in the 
documentary.  When I first saw "Rear Window" I though that was fluff, but 
it is right on the mark.

According to my wife the relationship between Bergman and Capa was more 
extensive and lasted far longer than shown in the film.  She also feels 
that that famous shot in Spain remains controversial.

Capa had two important traits-  The will to get to the right place at the 
right time, and the energy to shoot at least 70,000 negatives, often under 
difficult circumstances.  I think maybe the Galen Rowell collection is the 
one of a very few which matches it in size, but of course Galen was 
climbing mountains, not being shot at.

And yes, Jerry, I know you think camera choice is of no interest to this 
group, but I would guess that most members are curious about what cameras 
he used.


Don Williams
La Jolla, CA

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