This Is Peace!—Robert Capa at Work

Abstract

Opening the second part of the book, Chapter 4 is dedicated to Robert Capa, the peace photographer. Focusing on selected Spanish Civil War photographs, I argue that these photographs qualify as peace photographs—photographs of everyday peace—because they represent the continuation of the everyday in times of war. They visually emphasise the lived experience of ordinary people who refuse to appear as victims and, instead, go about their business, trying to maintain a somewhat normal life in adverse circumstances—acts of resistance to the dynamics and logics of war. Ultimately, Capa’s photographs show that the juxtaposition war–peace often collapses and make us think about what we mean by and how we understand peace.