To honor the famed war photographer’s 108th birthday, Google today released a new daily Doodle that celebrates the life and images created by the late photojournalist Gerda Taro.
“Here’s to Gerda Taro, who had a photographer’s eye, a journalist’s soul, and a warrior’s courage,” Google announced in today’s Doodle release.
Born Gerta Pohorylle, in Germany on August 1, 1910, Taro relocated to Paris in the 1930s following Adolf Hitler’s ascension to chancellor. It was there that she met and fell in love with photographer Endre Friedmann, and the two worked under the name Robert Capa. While Taro later set out on her own, working under her own name, the International Center of Photography reports, their war photography collaborations were still largely credited to Capa.
They worked together on photo projects surrounding the Spanish Civil War, and both gained fame for their on-the-ground immersive work. With her Rollei camera, Express reports, the fearless reporter captured some of the most iconic and recognizable images from the 1930s conflicts — notably the Valencia bombing — often setting out on her own to capture dangerous events and battles.
While on a solo photo excursion in Brunete in July 1937, the ICP reports, Taro “was crushed by a Loyalist tank in the confusion of retreat, and died several days later.”
Though her work was not widely attributed to her throughout her life or in the decades that followed, she has become known and “considered to be the first female journalist in the world to cover the front lines of conflict,” the company reports.
Today, on what would be her 108th birthday, she is celebrated for her bravery and mission to shed light on some of the world’s most perilous moments.
