Richard Whelan’s work on all matters related to the subjects of Robert and Cornell Capa should be considered fatally compromised and entirely unreliable, except when their overall narratives and specific claims can be verified by credible outside sources. It will take decades to undo the contamination of the literature on Robert Capa that traces directly to Whelan’s efforts on Cornell Capa’s behalf. […]
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In short, we have clear evidence of a pattern of intimidation and obstruction of independent Capa research by individuals at the very top of the ICP chain of command, going back to the institution’s origins. This does not bode well for the future of Capa scholarship, nor for the future of ICP. Moreover, it raises serious questions about ICP’s claim to credible status as a research institution. […] By any standards, the touring Robert Capa retrospective launched by Cornell Capa via Magnum in 1960 proved an overwhelming success. The show toured in three sets through 1969, with stops at no fewer than 100 venues across North America and Europe: museums, college and university galleries and student unions, high schools, banks, churches, public libraries, even county fairs. […] The promulgation of a fictionalized version of Robert Capa’s actions on D-Day and the subsequent fate of his Omaha Beach negatives constitute the worm in the apple, the rot at the very core of the foundation myth of the International Center of Photography — the Center’s “original sin,” as it were, the first skeleton in its closet. Known to ICP’s founder, Cornell Capa, Robert’s younger brother, as far back as 1944, the truth got papered over long before ICP was even a gleam in Cornell’s eye. […] Capa’s images show Armored Assault Vehicle 10 in no more than two feet of water, the one ahead of it in even shallower water. Later newsreel images will show them both in different position, further disproving Capa’s claim that Armored Assault Vehicle 10 was severely damaged. I’ll examine those images an upcoming post. […] |
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