Born in Budapest, Robert Capa left Hungary in 1930 for Berlin, enrolled in the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik as a student of journalism and political science, and served as a darkroom assistant at Dephot. With the rise of the Nazis in 1933, Capa left Germany for Paris, where he met Henri Cartier-Bresson, Chim and Taro. He worked as a photojournalist, and between 1936 and 1939 made several trips to Spain to document the civil war.

As World War II erupted, he escaped to New York, but soon returned to Europe to cover the war, primarily for Life. After the war, Capa founded Magnum Photos agency with Cartier-Bresson, Chim, and George Rodger. He travelled to Hanoi in 1954 to photograph the French war in Indochina; shortly after his arrival, he stepped on a landmine and was killed.