On more than one occasion, Charles Herrick has criticized Robert Capa’s photographic ability.
One of the examples he often cites of the “greatest war photographer’s” lack of war photographer talent is the fact that the pictures taken in the water by Capa show men clustered around obstacles, and not gun emplacements on the beach. He points out that these pictures were taken looking out to sea, not inland to the beach, to the action. He maintains that these just are not good combat pictures.
Today I listened to a podcast interview* with Mr. Herrick in which he stated that these same photographs of these men depicted "courage under fire." Yet, in his book he argued that these men were not really under fire, but were merely disarming the charges set on these obstacles by the Germans. He presented a bird’s eye view sketch of the men, to show that all were exposed to fire from the east (WN62, to their left), however eyewitness accounts that morning all indicated the fire was coming from a machine gun to the west. Three of the four men were aligned to present a minimum profile to that machine gun. They were sheltering from that gun while they courageously carried out their duty. And as John Morris later pointed out, Capa had exposed his back to the machine gun to take the picture.
This prompted me to write this first appended blog entry to this overall story.
I agree completely with Mr. Herrick, that the photographs of the men around the obstacles do demonstrate, without a doubt, courage under fire. The casualty rate was extremely high that day. Doubtless, these men had seen many of their comrades fall, be killed or wounded. some of them severely maimed, or even blown completely apart. These men were combat engineers of a gap assault team whose job was to stay stationery and disarm the charges.
All of the officers had been ordering their soldiers to get off the beach, to run forward, to get out of the water. Having been to Omaha Beach, I am certain that their only chance of survival was to clear the beach. By staying put, these men took extraordinary risks to ensure the overall success of the operation. The most powerful photographs show the extremes of humanity, be that courage or pain or suffering or elation. Therefore, contrary to Mr. Herrick's criticism that these are not good combat pictures, I view these photographs as quintessential images of combat, of courage under fire, of bravery, selflessness, and intrepidity.
Richard Whelan noted in Capa’s photographs of the Spanish Civil War, “his growing realization that there was more to war than just action and adventure. His pictures of Madrid make it clear that he was beginning to understand that truth about war was to be found not only in the heat of battle, in the official show, but also at the edge of things, in the faces of soldiers enduring cold, fatigue, and tedium behind the lines and of civilians ravaged by fear, suffering and loss. Capa was always–throughout his entire career–primarily a photographer of people, and many of his pictures of war (even those taken in the midst of battle) are not so much chronicles of events as extraordinarily sympathetic and compassionate studies of people under extreme stress.”**
The other criticism that Herrick mentioned in this podcast, as he has done elsewhere, is the fact that there was no difference in the sea level in these 10 pictures. Herrick points out that the tide was rising very rapidly, and had Capa been at Omaha Beach for any extended period of time, his photographs would have reflected that rise. Herrick uses this as further proof that Capa spent only a brief period of time on Omaha Beach.
However, what he neglects to consider, is that these were the final frames on his first roll of film, which he took in rapid succession. Of course the tide didn't rise noticeably over those few minutes. When Capa finished his first roll of film he realized, like everyone else, that he needed to get out of the water and onto the beach. It is highly unlikely that he would have taken out his second camera, while stowing the first camera under fire, and then sauntered up to the sand snapping more pictures along the way. It is far more likely, and consistent with his memoir, that he immediately made for the sandy beach after he completed his first roll. This is hardly proof, as Herrick contends, that Capa was on the beach only a short period of time.
Finally, in this podcast, Herrick pointed out that no memoirs from other men mentioned Capa as being on the beach that day. Setting aside for a second that Sam Fuller claimed to have had a conversation with Capa on the beach that morning, and that Doyle and Kays both mentioned Capa in the boat with them, I doubt if any of the men in their extremity took the time to inventory which famous noncombatants were at the shingle versus who remained in the water. I haven’t seen a reference to other correspondents in any of the memoirs I have read. Again, this spurious “proof” really doesn’t prove anything.
* Joe Muccia, We’re Not Lost, Private Podcast, Episode 29, March 12, 2025.
** Richard Whelan. Robert Capa A Biography. 1985. Univ of Nebraska Press. page 105.