IT IS FALSE THAT THE ICP OF NEW YORK HAS RECOGNIZED THAT THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE OF THE FAMOUS FALLING SOLDIER PICTURE IS 6 X 6 CM MEDIUM FORMAT

By José Manuel Serrano Esparza 

                                                                                            Photo : Robert Capa / © ICP New York 

The information appeared in some newspapers and media, among them The Telegraph, Photolari and La Razón stating that the International Center of Photography of New York has recognized that the original negative of the well-known Falling Soldier picture is 6 x 6 cm format is false.  

And the statement made by Fernando Penco in Cordópolis online newspaper on September 7, 2026 in which he says : 

https://cordopolis.eldiario.es/cordoba-hoy/local/nuevas-pruebas-indican-foto-iconica-guerra-civil-espanola-hizo-camara-gerda-taro_1_13492052.html 

" If, as has been recognized by the ICP, the photograph was made with a 6 x 6 cm camera, it will be necessary to reconsider very seriously who made the picture ", Fernando Penco sums up in conversation with this newspaper. And he adds a fundamental aspect : he dosn´t want to state it can be proved 100% that it was Gerda Taro who pressed the shutter release butrton of the camera, but the technical evidence make that chance must be seriously considered " 

doesn´t correspond to the truth either.  

" Ahora Penco vuelve a hablar de la imagen con una nueva pieza clave : el negativo original de la fotografía es de formato medio, tamaño 6 x 6. Un detalle que ya había señalado anteriormente el investigador José Manuel Susperregui y que ahora ha sido reconocido por el International Center of Photography (ICP), que custodia el archivo de Robert Capa ". 

" Now Penco talks again about the image with a new key piece : the original negative of the photograph is medium format, 6 x 6 size. A detail that had previously been pointed out by the researcher José Manuel Susperregui and has now been recognized by the International Center of Photography (ICP), which holds Robert Capa´s archive ". 

Recently, Alfonso del Barrio, Director of FV Foto-Vídeo Actualidad, the most important in the world written in Spanish, in the market since 1988, has made contact with the International Center of Photography of New York, through an email sent on Wednesday September 9, 2026 at 1:15 a.m, has asked on the subject, and in response that was sent to him on Thursday September 10, 2026 at 18:53 h, the International Center of Photography of New York has stated that it has never recognized that the Falling Soldier famous picture was made with an original 6 x 6 cm negative, and therefore, the information is false.