Gerda Taro or Robert Capa? New evidence reopens the mystery of “The Falling Soldier”

Summary

• New research argues that “The Falling Soldier” may have originated from a 6×6 camera used by Gerda Taro.
• Fernando Penco links the square format, Taro’s presence at Espejo and other photographs from the same day to the possibility that she made the image.
• The original negative has not been found, and there is no definitive proof that Taro took the photograph.
• The historically established attribution remains Robert Capa, while the question of whether the scene was spontaneous or staged also remains unresolved.
• Alina Marazzi’s new film “La ragazza con la Leica” screened in Venice’s Orizzonti section in 2026 and has brought Taro back into the spotlight.

New research into the camera and format of “The Falling Soldier” strengthens the possibility that the iconic Spanish Civil War image may have been taken by Gerda Taro rather than Robert Capa, although there is still no definitive proof.

The debate has resurfaced alongside Alina Marazzi’s film “La ragazza con la Leica”, presented in the Orizzonti section of the 83rd Venice Film Festival. At the same time, Spanish historian, archaeologist and archivist Fernando Penco Valenzuela is advancing new arguments about the authorship of “The Falling Soldier”, a photograph attributed to Robert Capa for decades.

The significance of the case goes beyond changing the name beneath a famous photograph. It reaches into the creation of the “Robert Capa” photographic identity itself, the close working relationship between Capa and Taro, the difficulties involved in attributing their shared archive and, ultimately, the ease with which photographic history can solidify an attribution when the original negative is missing.

The new clue: the square 6×6 frame

The central argument in the new research is technical. According to Penco, the image’s dimensions suggest that “The Falling Soldier” originated from a medium-format 6×6 negative rather than the rectangular 35mm frame of a Leica used at the time by Endre Friedmann, the photographer who became known as Robert Capa.

The argument gained additional weight when, according to the Guardian, a 2025 Capa retrospective in Madrid curated by Magnum stated in a caption that although some prints of “The Falling Soldier” are rectangular, the proportions of others suggest that the original negative came from a 6×6 camera.

That alone does not prove who pressed the shutter. It is nevertheless significant because the two photographers were using different formats during this period, a distinction researchers and archives have long used to separate their work.

Reflex-Korelle, Leica and the crucial difference in format

The International Center of Photography has described Taro and Capa’s early collaboration by noting that Taro photographed in a square medium format while Capa used a Leica producing rectangular 35mm negatives. Older ICP documentation referred to Taro’s camera as a Rollei, while later research has argued that the camera she actually used during the first months of the Spanish Civil War was a 6×6 Reflex-Korelle.

The Reflex-Korelle was a medium-format camera using 120 film and producing approximately 6×6cm negatives. Research based partly on photographs showing Taro with her equipment has identified the model as a Reflex-Korelle II, while Capa is associated during this period with 35mm Leica cameras.

This distinction lies at the heart of the new claim: if the original “Falling Soldier” image really came from a 6×6 negative, and if that square format corresponded to Taro’s equipment on that particular day, the traditional attribution to Capa deserves at least to be reconsidered.

What Fernando Penco is specifically arguing

Penco places the photograph on 5 September 1936 at Espejo, near Córdoba, revising its older general association with Cerro Muriano. His investigation of the location has also been published in an academic context, addressing both “The Falling Soldier” and the broader sequence of photographs made by Capa and Taro during that period.

According to the Guardian, a photograph also shows Taro on the day the pair reached the area carrying her Reflex-Korelle. Penco further argues that the square-format photographs from the Espejo series are attributed to Taro, while the rectangular images are attributed to Friedmann/Capa. From that pattern, he concludes that because “The Falling Soldier” also derives from a square frame, Taro is the more likely photographer.

The ICP archive itself contains a Gerda Taro photograph of Republican soldiers on the Córdoba front dated 5 September 1936, documenting that she was photographing in the same area on the same day.

However, the sequence “6×6 therefore Taro” remains a research argument rather than a definitive identification of the photographer. The original negative of “The Falling Soldier” has never been found, preventing a direct examination that might settle the issue.

What is historically documented

It is well established that Gerda Taro and Robert Capa worked together in Spain and often photographed the same scenes. The ICP notes that they collaborated closely and that differences in the proportions of their negatives are among the tools used to distinguish their early photographs.

It is also documented that the professional identity “Robert Capa” emerged from the collaboration between Taro and Friedmann and that, during the early period, photographs by both were circulated under that identity. This is why reassessing attributions today is not merely theoretical: the publishing system of the time could separate the name seen by readers from the person who actually exposed the frame.

PTTL has examined the photographer’s life and work in its biographical feature on Robert Capa, where “The Falling Soldier” appears among the images that defined his international reputation.

What has not been proven

It has not been proven that Gerda Taro took “The Falling Soldier”. Fernando Penco presents technical and historical evidence that strengthens that possibility, but there is no definitive proof, and the original negative remains missing.

The same is true of a second, older question: whether the image records an actual death as it occurred or whether the scene was staged. Penco believes the absence of active fighting at that location supports the latter interpretation. That is his research assessment, however, not an established fact.

The controversy itself is not new. The International Center of Photography has long described the precise circumstances surrounding the photograph as disputed, openly asking whether it really shows a soldier at the moment of death and whether the scene was staged.

Even today, Magnum continues to offer the image as a Robert Capa photograph, underlining that the historically established attribution has not officially been overturned.

“La ragazza con la Leica” brings Taro back into focus

The renewed debate coincides with the Venice presentation of Alina Marazzi’s “La ragazza con la Leica”. The 119-minute Italian-German production stars Emilia Schüle as Gerda Taro and Aaron Altaras as Robert Capa. The screenplay is by Marazzi and Valia Santella and is loosely based on Helena Janeczek’s novel of the same title.

The Biennale’s official synopsis sets the story on 14 July 1937, shortly before Taro returns to the Spanish front. Through flashbacks it explores her political activism in Leipzig, exile in Paris, relationship with Capa, discovery of photography and increasingly strong desire for an independent creative identity.

The film screened in the Orizzonti section, including a 2 September presentation at the Sala Darsena as part of the Biennale’s official programme.

Gerda Taro beyond Robert Capa

Taro’s importance today does not depend on whether it is eventually proven that she made “The Falling Soldier”. The ICP holds the largest collection of her work and describes her as a pioneering photojournalist whose brief career was almost entirely devoted to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War.

Her photographs are notable for their physical proximity to events and dynamic camera angles. Among her best-known images is a Republican militiawoman practising with a pistol near Barcelona, while her archive also encompasses battlefronts, wounded soldiers and the consequences of war for civilians.

Taro was killed in July 1937 while covering the fighting around Brunete, after being fatally injured by a Republican tank. She is regarded as the first known female photojournalist to die while covering a war.

Why the case matters to photographic history

“The Falling Soldier” is more than a famous war photograph. For decades it has been used as an example of photography’s capacity to freeze an extreme moment of human experience and has become inseparable from the mythology surrounding Robert Capa.

If its attribution to Taro were ever confirmed, it would substantially alter one of the best-known chapters in photojournalism history. At the same time, the case is a lesson in photographic research: the proportions of a negative, the camera visible around a photographer’s neck in an archive image and comparisons with neighbouring frames can, decades later, challenge a caption that had long appeared settled.

What we think

The new evidence makes the possibility of Gerda Taro’s involvement in “The Falling Soldier” much harder to dismiss, but it is not strong enough to justify presenting a new attribution as fact. The 6×6 format, Taro’s documented presence with a medium-format camera and the attribution of other square frames are serious clues. Without the original negative or another direct piece of evidence, however, the most accurate conclusion remains that the long-established Robert Capa attribution is now being challenged by significant new evidence.

Frequently asked questions

Has it been proven that Gerda Taro took “The Falling Soldier”?

No. Fernando Penco presents technical and historical evidence supporting that possibility, but there is no definitive proof, and the original negative remains missing.

Why is the 6×6 format so important?

Because Taro was using a medium-format camera that produced square frames during this period, while Capa is associated with 35mm Leica cameras and rectangular negatives. If the photograph truly originated from a 6×6 negative, that strengthens the case for Taro.

What camera did Gerda Taro appear to be using?

Later research has identified her camera during the first months in Spain as a 6×6 Reflex-Korelle, although older sources, including ICP material, described it as a Rollei.

Has it been proven that “The Falling Soldier” was staged?

No. Questions about the circumstances of the photograph have persisted for decades, and Penco argues that the scene was probably staged, but this remains a hypothesis rather than definitively established fact.

What is “La ragazza con la Leica”?

It is Alina Marazzi’s new film about Gerda Taro’s life and work, loosely based on Helena Janeczek’s novel. It was presented in the Orizzonti section of the 2026 Venice Film Festival.