Arriving Immigrants, Haifa, Israel

Balancing a battered suitcase on top of her head, a woman laughs mid-stride while a small boy holds tight to the hem of her patterned dress. Robert Capa snapped this scene in Haifa in 1948, the very year Israel declared independence, when ships were bringing thousands of new arrivals to the country. The rough shacks and tents in the background were the kind of temporary shelter waiting for many of these families, who often carried everything they owned in a bag or two.

Capa built his reputation as one of the boldest war photographers of his era, famous for pressing close to danger and capturing raw feeling in a single frame. This picture trades the front line for something gentler, yet it carries just as much weight. The worn clothing and bare surroundings speak of a hard road, but the woman's bright smile and the little boy trotting alongside her tell another story too. Even in the middle of upheaval and uncertainty, small sparks of happiness keep breaking through.