MADRID — Robert Capa’s photograph of a falling Spanish Civil War militiaman became one of the most famous and enduring images of conflict in the 20th century. Now, Spanish researchers who have studied events surrounding the picture believe it may have been staged.
When first published in September 1936 by French magazine Vu, and later in Life magazine, the caption on the photojournalist’s “Falling Militiaman” said it depicted the moment a Republican rifleman was mortally wounded.
Now Spanish researchers say that not only was the photograph not taken where Capa said it was, but that the militiaman was most likely not shot either. After studying the photograph and new images released as part of a traveling exhibition, four researchers say the photographs were shot about 34 miles away in an area where there was no fighting the day they were taken.
