学文网我们厌恶战争，但战争仍然在不断上演。在20世纪最混乱的年代，更多人记住的是那些赫赫有名的将领，但有那么一群人物绝对值得我们铭记―他们就是用生命去换取底片的战地记者。罗伯
特・卡帕可说是当中最出名的一个。作家亚历克斯・克肖将其戏剧性的一生写进了《热血与香槟》这本传记里。现在就让我们一起缅怀这位摄影史上的传奇人物。
Robert Capa, the legendary Hungarian-born
photojournalist who set the standard for war
photographers, spoke seven languages ― none very well. He didn’t need to. For over 20 of the bloodiest
years of the 20th century, Capa let his cameras do the talking. “If your pictures aren’t good enough,
you’re not close enough,” he famously declared.
Getting close to Capa himself could also be a tricky business, though the challenge was usually overcome by soldiers, poker players, 1)bartenders, writers, artists and beautiful women. A half-century
after Capa’s death while covering the French 2)colonial
war in Vietnam, the British journalist and author Alex Kershaw has also gotten close. In his 3)elegant Capa biography, Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa, Kershaw portrays a brave and talented photographer who could also be 4)reckless, 5)cynical and 6)opportunistic. In his book, Kershaw focuses on a man who “invented himself” and who was exposed to an 7)excess of both joy and horror in his 41 years.
Born André Friedmann in Budapest in 1913, Capa entered a world in conflict, between nations and
between his parents. In his teens, André ― poor, clever, bored, romantic at heart and 8)discriminated against as a Jew ― became 9)involved with 10)leftist revolutionaries, seeking out conflict and danger. When he was 18, he moved to Berlin and took up photojournalism. His first big break came in 1932, when he was 11)assigned to photograph Trotsky注1. His pictures were the most dramatic of the day, writes Kershaw. Taken within a meter or so of Trotsky, they were 12)intense,
13)intimate and imperfect ― the trademarks of the man who would become famous as Capa, or “shark” in Hungarian.
As Nazi power grew in Germany, Friedmann moved to Paris, the only city he would ever consider home. In France, he 14)documented the social and industrial strife of the mid-1930s, struggled to earn a living and fell in love with Gerda Taro, who shared his work and his dreams. Together they invented Robert Capa, a rich, famous, talented American photographer whose name on a picture 15)boosted its price.
In 1936, they moved on to war-torn Spain, determined to fight 16)totalitarianism with cameras. The following year, Taro was killed there, in a road accident. Capa was extremely sad, and part of him died with her. Still, he pursued his 17)calling, travelingto China in 1938 to cover the Sino-Japanese War, back to Spain as the Republican 18)cause was 19)collapsing.Then, as World War II 20)raged, he went on to North Africa, Sicily, the Italian mainland and ― to Omaha Beach and the 21)slaughter of the D-Day注2 invasion.
It was in Spain that Capa took his best-known photo, which claimed to show a 22)militiaman a 23)split second after he had been shot. Debate over its 24)authenticity still rages. The “truth” of the photo, says Kershaw, is in its representation of a 25)symbolic death. “The Falling
Soldier, authentic or fake, is a record of Capa’s political bias and 26)idealism,” he writes.
In 1946, after more than a decade of front-line reporting, says Kershaw, “Capa had started to show many of the 27)symptoms of 28)post-29)traumatic stress disorder: restlessness, heavy drinking, 30)irritability,depression, survivor’s guilt, and lack of direction.” He fulfilled a dream in 1947, though, by setting up the Magnum photo 31)cooperative, named after the large champagne bottle.
Capa next traveled to the Soviet Union, but the cold war did not suit his talents. 32)Grazed and badly shaken by a bullet in Tel Aviv in 1948, he 33)sat out the Korean War. But the gambler in him was 34)lured back into the 35)fray in 1954, to work again for Life magazine.
“This is going to be a beautiful story,” he said as he set out from the village of Nam Dinh, in Vietnam’s Red River delta, on May 25, the last morning of his life. “I will be on my good behavior today. I will not 36)insult my colleagues, and I will not once mention the excellence of my work.” Eight hours ― and 30 km ― later, Capa was dead, killed by a 37)landmine at Thai Binh, as he tried to get just that little bit closer.
传奇人物匈牙利籍摄影记者罗伯特・卡帕为战地摄影师设立了标准。他能讲七种语言――虽然每一种都讲得不太好。然而他也不需要。在20世纪最腥风血雨的20多年里，卡帕的照相机便是他的代言人。“要是你的***片不够好，那是因为你离得不够近。”这是他流传甚广的一句名言。
要接近卡帕本人也是一件棘手的事情，但对于士兵、扑克牌友、酒吧服务生、作家、艺术家和漂亮女人而言，这点通常不是什么挑战。卡帕在报导法国在越南的殖民战争时身亡距现在已经过了整整半个世纪，英国记者及作家亚历克斯・克肖终于把镜头向卡帕推近了一步。在他关于卡帕的简练传记《热血与香槟：罗伯特・卡帕的生命与时代》里，克肖描绘了一位勇敢无畏、才华横溢的摄影师，然而此人同时也是一个鲁莽冲动、愤世嫉俗的人，还是一个机会主义者。克肖的书把焦点集中在一个“发明自我”的人身上，一位在其41岁的生命中经历了过多喜悦与恐惧的人物身上。
1913年，卡帕出生于布达佩斯，当时名为安德烈・弗里德曼。他进入的是一个充满冲突的世界，一个国家之间和父母之间充满不和的世界。贫穷而聪明、百无聊赖却心怀浪漫，并因身为犹太人而遭受歧视的安德烈在十多岁时开始参与左翼***分子活动，寻求冲突与危险。18岁时，他搬到柏林并开始从事新闻摄影。他人生中的第一次重大突破发生在1932年，当时他受命为俄国***领袖托洛茨基拍照。据克肖所写，他拍出来的照片是当时最具戏剧性的。照片是在距离托洛茨基不到一米之处拍摄的，这些照片显得如此气势凌人、细节明显并显露瑕疵―这些都是这位后来闻名世界的卡帕的作品商标。而卡帕这个名字在匈牙利语中意为“鲨鱼”。
随着纳粹势力在德国扩张，弗里德曼搬到了巴黎，这是他唯一视作家的城市。在法国期间，他记录下了20世纪30年代的社会和工业冲突，挣扎求存，并与他的工作和梦想之侣格尔达・塔罗坠入爱河。他们一起创造了罗伯特・卡帕―一位富有、才华横溢的著名美国摄影师，他的名字能使一幅照片的价值扶摇直上。
1936年，卡帕和格尔达・塔罗一路来到伤痕累累的西班牙，决心以照相机与当地的极权主义展开斗争。第二年，塔罗在一场车祸中丧生。卡帕极度悲伤，他的一部分灵魂仿佛也随她一同死去。然而他仍然执著地追求自己的使命。他于1938年来到中国，报导抗日战争，随后又因西班牙的共和国事业面临崩溃而重返故地。后来二战日趋激烈，卡帕相继到过北非、西西里、意大利大陆以及―奥马哈海滩和诺曼底登陆日的厮杀战场。
卡帕最广为人知的一张照片是在西班牙拍下的。该照片据称展示了一位民兵被击中后的瞬间。一直到现在，这张照片的真实性仍受到争议。克肖说，这张照片的“真相”在于它代表了一种象征性的死亡。“无论真伪，‘倒下的战士’都记录了卡帕的***治倾向和理想主义。”他
写道。
1946年，在从事了十多年前线报导之后，克肖说：“卡帕开始出现创伤后压力症候群的许多症状―焦虑不安、酗酒、易怒、抑郁、幸存者愧疚心理以及无方向感。”但他在1947年还是实现了一个梦想，成立了以巨大香槟酒瓶命名的马格南***片社。
卡帕接下来又去了前苏联，但冷战并不适合其才华的发挥。1948年，他在特拉维夫被一枚子弹擦伤，受到极大冲击，所以在朝鲜战争中他只是坐壁上观。但在1954年，他本性中的赌徒精神诱使他重回战场，再次为《生活》杂志工作。
“这会成为一个美丽的故事。”那一年的5月25日，在从越南红河三角洲的南定村出发时，卡帕这么说。那是他生命中最后一个早晨。“今天我会规规矩矩的。既不羞辱我的同事，也决不提我的活儿干得有多漂亮。”八个小时――行进了30公里之后，卡帕死在太平村的一枚地雷上。那时，他正试着再靠近那么一点点。