Spanish Civil War

The falling soldiers' photo was taken by Robert Capa in September 5^th, 1936. This image is of a Spanish loyalist militiaman collapsing to death. The photograph shows that the man had be shot as he ran down the hill. This essay will analyze the image of the falling soldier.

Falling soldier image

The scenery of this image is in a fighting environment. The image depicts the death of a republican soldier who collapses backwards having been short. The soldier is dressed in civilian clothes and his gun is slipping out of the right hand. This image is a symbol of the Spanish civil war and it shows that many people especially the army died during the war. In his book, Paul Preston says " In the mean while, however, dramatic events had been taking place on the Spanish mankind. On the afternoon of 12 July, Falangist gunmen had shot and killed a leftist officer of the republican assault guards, lieutenant José del Castillo...."(Preston P, pg 71)

He also says that " on the morning of 16 July, general Anardo Balmer, military commander in Gran Canaria and an excellent marksman, was short in the stomach while trying out various pistols in a shooting range" (Preston P, pg 73)

The immediate environment surrounding the soldier is cloudy which symbolizes the gun shots. This is due to the smoke produced from the guns during the battle. In this photograph, the soldier falling is more highlighted more.

From this photograph, the falling soldier is focused and his image is clearest. He seems to be standing on grass at the foreground but the background where there's the sky it is very clear (Whelan R. pg.14). The image illustrates a loyalist Spanish army being felled by a Fascist insurgent. It shows man's inhumanness towards his fellow men (Alexander J.  pg8). It also symbolizes the sacrifices that were made during the war even trivialization of death.