Eyes of the World: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and the Invention of Modern Photojournalism - Hardcover

Aronson, Marc; Budhos, Marina

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805098356 ISBN 13: 9780805098358

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2017

Synopsis

“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” –Robert Capa

Robert Capa and Gerda Taro were young Jewish refugees, idealistic and in love. As photographers in the 1930s, they set off to capture their generation's most important struggle―the fight against fascism. Among the first to depict modern warfare, Capa, Taro, and their friend Chim took powerful photographs of the Spanish Civil War that went straight from the action to news magazines. They brought a human face to war with their iconic shots of a loving couple resting, a wary orphan, and, always, more and more refugees―people driven from their homes by bombs, guns, and planes.

Today, our screens are flooded with images from around the world. But Capa and Taro were pioneers, bringing home the crises and dramas of their time―and helping give birth to the idea of bearing witness through technology.

With a cast of characters ranging from Langston Hughes and George Orwell to Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway, and packed with dramatic photos, posters, and cinematic magazine layouts, here is Capa and Taro’s riveting, tragic, and ultimately inspiring story.

This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum.

About this title

About the Authors

Marc Aronson is an author, editor, publisher, speaker, historian, and book producer. Marc's mission is to inspire young people to ask questions, to look around, behind, and inside of the stories the world tells us. He writes a monthly column for School Library Journal on nonfiction for younger readers, and frequently speaks about boys and reading. Marc was awarded the Robert F. Sibert Award for the best in children's nonfiction for Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado, and his books have been selected as a New York Times Notable Book and a School Library Journal best book. In 2006, he was given the ALAN Award by NCTE for service to teenagers, and was named the local spokesman for the History Channel's Save Our History program. He lives with his wife and two sons in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Marina Budhos writes fiction and nonfiction for adults and teenagers, including Watched, as well as Sugar Changed the World and Eyes of the World, co-written with her husband, Marc Aronson. She is a professor of English at William Paterson University and lives with her two sons in Maplewood, NJ.

Reviews

Gr 7 Up—Robert Capa and Gerda Taro carved out careers as photojournalists, striving to capture the victories and defeats of the anti-Fascist freedom fighters during the Spanish Civil War. As European Jews, they understood the dangers of Nazi ideology. Thus, together with thousands of young idealists and a handful of literary giants (Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Neruda), they fought to defeat Franco and prevent another world war. Though their efforts were thwarted and countless lives (including Taro's) were lost, their photos, snapped in the middle of the action, were instrumental in bringing the war's horrors to the forefront of the global community and in firmly establishing a new kind of journalism that remains crucial to news reporting. Aronson and Budhos provide a detailed account of Capa's and Taro's sometimes conflicting romantic and professional lives. They also convey the brutality and senselessness of war in descriptions of battles and their aftermath. Original black-and-white photos complement the text, while explanatory charts, notes, and appendixes offer historical context. The use of present tense, interspersed with past tense references, occasionally distracts from the overall powerful content. VERDICT Intriguing and unusual subject matter for this age group; recommended for teen collections that serve patrons with an interest in journalism and history.—Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, formerly at LaSalle Academy, Providence

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805098356
• ISBN 13: 9780805098358
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304