Digital History Seminar: 20th Century Spain

Staged Photos of The Spanish Civil War




On July 21st, 1936, Marina Ginesta was 17 years old and a member of the Unified Socialist Youth, a Republican group during the Spanish Civil War.  She and the rest of her faction had just defeated an uprising in Barcelona, and were living out of the Hotel Colon in Plaza de Catalunya in what she referred to herself as a "bourgeois manner" until their supplies ran out.  The photographer was Hans Gutman, a German who went by Juan Guzman while in Spain.  At 89, Ginesta was interviewed about this photo, and revealed that she didn't know the photo even still existed, and that it was staged.  Ginesta and her faction had been celebrating their victory and Gutman was snapping photos.  Another member of the USY lent Ginesta the machine gun for the photo, after making her swear to return it. (CITE: El Pais)

While some would have believed this photo was a spur of the moment decision, mid or just post-battle, due to the gun and the sense of pride on Ginesta's face.  Just because the photograph was staged doesn't mean the sense of pride, confidence, and wonder are gone.  This exhibit will examine some of the staged photos of the Spanish Civil War and the impact they held. 

Carousel of SCW photos

Info on ^^^ 



The image of the woman aiming a gun on a beach was taken by either Robert Capa or Gerda Taro.  The two were reportedly engaged during the Spanish Civil War, and spent it documenting the horrors and glory of the war through photographs.  Capa spent 1936-1939 photographing the war, but Taro tragically died in 1937 in Madrid when a tank went out of control.  This image was discovered in the Mexican Suitcase, which contained more than 4,000 negatives taken by Capa, Taro, or a third photographer, David Seymour.  The suitcase disappeared at the beginning of World War II and was discovered in 2007.  The photo of this woman is clearly staged, as her pose is unnatural and not fit for firing a gun, a woman likely wouldn't wear heels to train for battle, and heels and the beach don't mix.  

The three Falling Soldier series have recently been brought under suspicion to be staged.  Taken by Capa and published in Life magazine, the first image is rather famous, and its likeness has been used in protest and public art installations around the world. The two images following are from the same series and taken on the same hill, but show different men and angles that point to the original also having been staged.  

The final example is the image of communist soldiers aiming at the Sacred Heart of Getafe.  The giant statue of Jesus Christ, built in 1919 near a 14th century monastery, is being pointed at by young soldiers of the Republican army.  The statue was destroyed during the war, but not entirely demolished as it was later relocated and used as a decoration of a massive underground church that is well traveled by Catholics even today.  The reason this image is believed to be staged is because although the monument had bullet marks dating from the war, they were not from guns fired at the angle of the guns in this picture, which likely couldn't have reached the statue any way.  The actual figure of Jesus Christ had no bullet marks, and in the photo the soldiers are aiming directly at Him.  The bullet markings were all lower on the monument and it can be inferred that they were made after the monument was being demolished, which was after the nearby monastery was ransacked.  Accompanying the famous image of this event is a wide shot that was also publicized when denouncing the savage communists, which is a wide shot of the event.  There are more people in this image, and a more casual feel to the atmosphere as the girl in the foreground behind the shooters has her hands on her waist in a care-free manner.  It looks less like the men to the right of the photo are ordering anyone to shoot and more that they are trying to get a better look at the monument.  

















 

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