Martin Miller

In the fall of 1947, John Steinbeck and the prominent documentary photographer Robert Capa were invited to Moscow to engage with Soviet society. As they were walking past Red Square for a meeting at the Kremlin, they passed an area where people were dancing in the street. Capa shot this picture as he passed by. It turned out that he had captured a street scene which was part of the 800th birthday celebration of the founding of the city of Moscow. Capa was fascinated by the fact that he saw mainly women dancing with women. When he inquired, he was told that the husbands of these women had died in battles against the Nazi invasion.

For this picture, timing mattered and the meaning of the scene, which was obvious to any Soviet citizen, was opaque to Western visitors.

Questions

1. What emotions are expressed in the frame?

2. Does context matter in understanding what the photographer wanted to convey?