To recap: An egotistical dandy puts himself in the path of danger, but for the wrong reasons. He finds himself running behind his own reputation and ability to deliver. When all those about him are losing their heads (literally), he does, too (but only emotionally). When the pressure reaches a peak, he blows it technically. While there are compelling, powerful, historical reasons to buckle down and stick with it, he quits instead. […]
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“Capa had a reputation as a great war photographer … and he was stuck with it,” says John G. Morris, the photo editor at LIFE magazine’s offices in London. Morris implies that Capa felt more than just excitement about D-Day, in fact a deep dread about his chances on Omaha Beach, a trap of his own making. […] |
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Alternate History: Robert Capa on D-Day (1)
When the film gets processed in London, LIFE Picture Editor John Morris discovers, to his horror, that LIFE’s star photojournalist (and Morris’s close friend) blew his assignment, arguably the biggest story of the war to date. A major embarrassment for Capa, for Morris, for LIFE, for Time-Life, and for the profession for which Capa has become the poster boy. So Morris concocts a tale of botched processing by a kid, covering the asses of all concerned, and turning Capa’s 11 correct exposures into splinters from the true cross instead of the paltry results of a terrified bumbler. […]