The little blonde...

In 1936 the Spanish Civil War broke out in Spain till 1939 between a rebel group and the established loyal Republicans. The Nationalists prevailed, and General Franco went on to rule Spain for the next 36 years and Gerda Taro was there to capture many of its images.



  Photo (Left) by, Unknown. Image Source

                                                                                                  Photo (Above) By, Gerda Taro (1937) Image Source                                                                                                                 

Gerda Taro (real name Gerta Pohorylle) was regarded as the first female war photojournalist. Taro was born into a middle class Jewish family in Germany in 1910 and lived there till 1929 when her family moved just before the beginning of Nazi Germany. Taro opposed the Nazi party and join a leftist group and in 1933 was arrested detained for distributing anti-Nazi propaganda then her entire household was forced to leave Nazi Germany towards different destinations and never saw her family again.

 

Photo'd above by, Cornell Capa (1936) "Gerda Taro and soldier, Córdoba Front, Spain," 1936, by Mr. Capa. After her brief career ended, a flood of photographs of World War II helped push her work off the stage and Ms. Taro all but disappeared from public consciousness.

According to Wikipedia “When the Spanish Civil War broke out (1936), Gerda Taro travelled to Barcelona, Spain, to cover the events with Capa and David "Chim" Seymour.  This is where Taro acquired the nickname of La pequeña rubia ("The little blonde"). Always together under the common, bogus signature of Robert Capa, they were successful through many important publications. Their early war photos are distinguishable since Taro used a Rollei camera which rendered squared photographs while Capa produced rectangular Leica pictures. 

Below Gerda Photo'd "Three Republican soldiers on a field telephone, Segovia Front, Spain, June 1937 that appeared in the Parisian newspaper Ce Soir and in the French magazine Regards.- (NYtimes) Her photo below is very simple with the three men seated, broken down well into thirds and the use of her shadows makes the photo seem a bit gloomy bringing out the emotion of war.

 

Photo By, Gerda Tora - Source

 

 

During the retreat from the Republican army in 1937 Taro captured the image below of Republican soldiers at the Navacerrada Pass in Spain. The photo's main objective was to show the impact and causalities that the war was having through the obvious main subject in this photo. The depth of the photo keeps you up-close so you can get the full view and get an instant reaction. Shortly after this photo was taken Taro hopped onto a footboard car full of wounded soldiers when it collided with a tank. Taro was critical injury during the crash and was pronounced dead the next morning at the young age of 27 years old. - Wikipedia, NYtimes

Photo by, Gerda Tora - Source

 

“Ms. Taro’s work was published in the Parisian newspaper Ce Soir and in the French magazine Regards, among other places; in the United States, her death was reported in Life magazine, which also ran some of her photographs.” Source: NYtimes 



Some more of Gerda Tora's photo's below.

Photo by, International Center of Photography

 

In or out of Focus: The boy pictured front is in focus to put the main focus on the main and hold your eye to him not his surrounding.

 

Keep it Simple: This photo is kept very simple, a picture of a young boy surrounded by evidence of war.

 

Depth of field: I think she did a good job here keeping the object (boy) up close enough to keep our attention.

 

Photo by, Gerda Taro

 

Use of shadows: The use of shadows here is great. Most of the photo is keep dark in the shadows allowing the light in one section to make the young man a focus point.

 

Rule of thirds: I think in this photo she should of framed/placed the boys a little further to the left. There a bit off center and my eye is drawn to the center and not the entire photo.

 

What is the Image: The image is in black and white, I feel the dark colors gives it a gloomy touch to it and makes me relate it more to the coldness of war.

 

Photo by, Gerda Taro

 

Quality of light: The quality light here is poor but I think it helps focus in on the men running. the lack of light actually makes the men stand out more.

 

Contrast: With the men in all dark clothing and the sky so light. It makes the main objects contrast against the sky bringing it more impact.

 

What in the image helped create a feeling: The men fleeing or attacking? It brings instant curiosity to why they are running

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