Capa | FRANCE. Normandy. June 6th, 1944. US troops assault Omaha Beach during the D-Day landings (first assault). | 1944
This Robert Capa photograph was monumental for documentary photography, as it pioneered the mainstream appeal for the concept of prioritizing documenting the moment over making it look good and/or romanticizing it. Many of Capa’s photographs reflect the same ideology, as a lot of them are blurry, yet the subject is clear enough for the viewer to understand what is going on.
Salgado | Workers place a new wellhead in an oil well that had been damaged by Iraqi explosives | 1991
Sebastian Salgado contributed to documentary photography in a greater sense: subject selection. He chose to document war-torn countries & highlight the socioeconomic margin in society. Most documentary photographers at the time would follow one country’s struggles, but Salgado follows the common themes of poverty & conflict. The photo above depicts men repairing an oil well in the middle of a battlefield, as the wellhead was damaged by iraqi explosives. Instead of photographing the rest of the battlefield, he is choosing to highlight the struggles of the repairmen & the absolutely inhumane conditions they are trying to work in.