A Love Story in War: My Drawing Inspired by Gerda Taro & Robert Capa

This is a drawing of a love story. A painful one, unfortunately.

I've recently prepared a presentation for my photography school about Gerda Taro—a war photographer who died so young.

Gerda Taro was a female photojournalist who documented war right from the front lines. She was born in 1910 in Germany, but later fled to France due to the rise of Nazism as she was Jewish. There, she met Endre Friedmann, a Hungarian photographer.
Together, they created a fictional persona of "Robert Capa"—a name that sounded more American and would help them sell their photos. Eventually, Endre adopted the name entirely, and Gerda made a name for herself as well.

In the meantime, they fell in love.

Sources say they were engaged, while others state that Gerda refused the proposal. Either way, they worked side by side, capturing moments of war that the world needed to see.

During an assignment in the Battle of Brunete in 1937, Gerda Taro was killed. She was only 27. Just 1–2 years into her photography career, and only a couple of years with Robert Capa. She was the first female photojournalist to have died while covering the frontline in a war.

Years later, in 1954, Robert Capa was also killed in a war zone—stepping on a landmine in Indochina. He was 40.

Then I learned—there’s a song I used to listen to when I was younger that is actually dedicated to this love story.

It’s Alt-J’s song, Taro.

I started listening it on repeat, letting the story sink in even more. Whether everything we know about their love is true or not, I was completely consumed by it. I felt the need to create something, to put my feelings somewhere. And I often do that through words or drawing.

In my drawing, I wanted to show their connection—that’s why their eyelids are joined. But I also wanted to show the pain. Their eyes are filled with watery blood, and red spikes surround them, almost like barbed wire.

I found some sources that Gerda’s eyes were green and Robert’s were brown. So, I kept that detail too.

And so, I drew while listening to Taro over and over again.

This love story still touches me. Both of them were such important photographers, both loved, and both lost their lives in war zones.

The Alt-J song describes Robert Capa exploding into the air and then being closer to Taro. I like to believe that’s true. That now, finally, they are together.

Below is the process of drawing this piece. For the full experience, I highly recommend listening to Alt-J – Taro while scrolling. :)

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I used watercolor to paint the eyes.

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To add some shading, I rubbed the pencil with my fingers.

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I used acrylic colored pencils over the watercolor as well.

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To add some realistic touches, I used acrylic paint to create the white watery parts.

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Also made the spikes bolder.

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And here's the final look:

Let me know your thoughts in the comments ❤️