The Mexican Suitcase is actually 3 cardboard boxes. They contained over 4,000 negatives of photographs taken by Robert Capa, Gerda Taro and David Seymour taken during the Spanish Civil War. For many years the photographs were thought to be lost but they were discovered in Mexico where the relatively dry and stable climate contributed to their good condition. They are now housed at the International Center for Photography which is preserving and digitizing the collection. The site contains the story of the “suitcase” and its discovery; biographies of the 3 photographers of the war; as well as discussion of the conservation and scanning process. There are a selection of photographs with brief contextual material: the most poignant being those of Taro and the Navacerrada Pass offensive which formed the basis for Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls.
