1media/Woman with heels and gun.jpgmedia/Woman with heels and gun.jpg2018-10-16T10:32:27-07:00Staged Photos of The Spanish Civil War41Meg Pearsonplain2019-04-20T18:46:57-07:00
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.
Marina Ginesta was not the only woman to be a model for a staged photo during the Spanish Civil War.
12019-05-06T19:43:51-07:00The Mexican Suitcase6plain2019-05-07T03:48:06-07:00 The Mexican Suitcase is one of the great mysteries of the Spanish Civil War. As Robert Capa was escaping France before it was completely under Nazi control, he gave three boxes containing over 4,500 negatives from the war to his dark room manager. The negatives were taken by Capa, Taro, and Seymour. Through several twists and turns, the negatives ended up in the possession of the Mexican Ambassador to France but in Mexico City. Finally the negatives were given to Capa's estate and then the International Center of Photography in 2007. An international traveling exhibit ran for six years from 2011 to 2017 and showed some of the negatives along with published photos taken by the trio. [1] This photo of a woman aiming a gun on a beach was believed to be taken during a training session, but is clearly staged. Her pose is unnatural and not fit for firing a gun, a woman likely wouldn't wear heels to train for battle, and would never wear heels to the beach. However, it is still an image that makes one think of strong and powerful women, who rise up and help the men fight for a noble cause, while maintaining their femininity. [2] Other images from the war show the photographers, soldiers, Ernest Hemingway - a close friend of the trio -, and the Spanish civilians trying to make it through the war. The era of the Spanish Civil War was the very beginning of war photojournalism due to advancements in photographer equipment. Especially with Franco in charge for decades after the war, the physical documentation of the war and the people that fought was precious and needed to stay safe at all costs. This is why the suitcase is so important to Spanish history and photojournalism history. [3]