Capa's photos from Mexico

Previously, on this subject here: http://www.lightstalkers.org/capa-negs-found

Thanks Darius – I hadn’t seen the actual pictures until now. What an incredible find. I’m going to study those amazing contacts at my leisure. I’m a sucker for this stuff!

Cheers, PHC.

Yes SP, I realise this news has been discussed before, but this is a new web site with a great presentation of the negs, their history and the ramifications of the find for our present take on the importance of Capa’s work. It is well worth a look. Also, if you click onto the home page you can find a wealth of doco work, most well worth a look, also very well presented.

thank you very much. What was nitrate film?

Nitrocellulose was used as the first flexible film base, relegating the old glass plate into history. Camphor is used as plasticizer for nitrocellulose film. It was used until 1933 for X-ray films and for motion picture film until 1951. From the 1920s it was increaqsingly replaced by safety film with an acetate base. During Capa’s time both nitro and acetate film were available, so it looks like Capa shot on nitro film.
It was discovered decades later that nitrocellulose gradually decomposes, releasing nitric acid which decomposes the film. Low temperatures can delay these reactions indefinitely. It is estimated that the great majority of films produced during the early twentieth century were lost forever either through this accelerating, self-catalyzed disintegration. Salvaging old films is a major problem for film archivists. It is surprising that so much of Capa’s nitro film is still in reasonable condition.