‘Guerrillero Heroico’: Fifty years since“Che” Guevera was immortalised
Posted on April 23rd, 2010

Ajit Randeniya

It is easy to miss important anniversaries because every day of the year marks one or another. For example, the 50th anniversary of the snapping, by Fidel CastroƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s personal photographer Alberto DƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚­az ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”KordaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ GutiƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚©rrez (1928-2001), of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”thatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ photograph of Ernesto ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”CheƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Guevera that fell on 4 March failed to register a blimp in the collective consciousness of the world.

The story of KordaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s photograph of Che Guevera, including the circumstances that gave Korda the opportunity, his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”readingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the intensity of GueveraƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s facial expression, and the subsequent exploitation of the photograph by capitalists makes fascinating reading.

Surprisingly, Korda only accidentally managed to capture the iconic black and white image that later became the universal symbol of adolescent rebellion and creative subversion; it was taken during a speech by Fidel Castro at the mass funeral of the eighty one revolutionaries who died during the CIA blasting of a weapons load aboard the French freighter ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Le CoubreƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in Havana Harbour. French intellectuals Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre were in attendance.

The ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Le CoubreƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ explosion by the CIA is considered the land mark event of the history of the Cuban revolution that turned the new state toward the Soviet Union for military support. The mass funeral of the martyrs itself became memorable, perhaps more than the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”main eventƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, due to Fidel Castro delivering the famous ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Homeland or DeathƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ slogan as well as KordaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s iconic photograph.

Alberto Korda was assigned by the magazine ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”RevoluciƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚³nƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to cover the ceremony. According to Korda, during FidelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s speech, Che Guevara came into view, just for a few seconds only, simply to glance over the enormous crowd that had gathered. Korda said: ‘Che was standing on the row behind Fidel [Castro] on the platform as he was speaking. You couldn’t see Che. Then I saw him step forward to the edge of the platform with this look of absolute steely defiance. I managed to shoot two frames, one vertical, one horizontal, and then he was gone.’

The photograph did not make the next day’s paper but Korda liked the image of Guevara so much, he cropped the original shot to make Guevara’s gaze stand out and labelled it the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Guerrillero HeroicoƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢(Heroic Guerrilla Fighter), and put a copy on the wall of his Havana studio.

Things changed dramatically when Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli paid a visit to Korda, in 1967, to collect some photos for ChƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚¨’s Bolivian Diary he was publishing: Feltrinelli was looking for an image for the cover of Bolivian Diary in particular, and Korda recalls that he gave two prints of the cropped portrait, yellowed by tobacco smoke, to Feltrinelli as a gift.

Either fortuitously, or through cunning observation, Feltrinelli had ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”struck goldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ when Guevara was killed a few months later and was immediately hailed as a martyr to the revolution. The fact that Korda’s image was not under copyright protection (due to Cuba not being a signatory to the Berne Convention on intellectual property), made it Feltrinelli’s, and virtually any one else’s.

Feltrinelli sold over a million posters of the image in October 1967 when spontaneous protests broke out in Milan following the news of Che’s death. From there, KordaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s image of Guevera was disseminated in Europe to all protests of the late 60s such as the Prague Spring, the Uprisings in Paris, and the Civil Rights Movement in Ireland; the image traversed the visual terrain from being merely a portrait of a hero to a key symbol of radical thought.In the decades that followed, Feltrinelli capitalised on its value through the marketing of millions of posters and other products featuring the image, with some even bearing the notice ‘copyright Feltrinelli’.

Korda was never credited for the image and never received any payment for its reproduction. Yet Korda did not bear a grudge against the enterprising publisher. ‘I still forgive him, because by doing what he did he made it famous.’

CubaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s joining of the World Trade Organisation in the early 1990s following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, and following KordaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s death in Paris in 2001, the first case against the illegal use of the image was resolved: after ignoring his copyright for 41 years, infuriated by the use of GueveraƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s image to promote Smirnoff Vodka, Korda sued the British advertising agency Lowe Lintas, and picture agency Rex Features. For Korda, the case was still to do with principle rather than money: ‘To use the image of Che Guevara to sell vodka is a slur on his name and his memory. He never drank, and drink should not be associated with his immortal memory’, Korda said.

Korda won a large, undisclosed sum of money as damages. The British-based Cuba Solidarity Campaign, an NGO that campaigns for an end to the US blockade of Cuba who helped Korda fight the action announced that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”he immediately had us hand it over to the Cuban Health Ministry to purchase much needed antibiotics for children.’

Korda was a fashion photographer before the revolution, but was attracted to the revolution due to his fascination with the triumvirate Fidel and Raul Castro and Che Guevera. Korda’s work also includes remarkable pictures of Castro’s rebels riding into Havana after their triumph, and one known as ‘The Quixote of the Lamp Post’ showing a Cuban wearing a straw hat and sitting on a lamp post against a sea of people during a rally. After the revolution, Korda took pictures of demonstrations, sugar cane harvests and factory scenes. For 10 years he served as the Cuban leader’s official photographer, accompanying Castro on trips and in meetings with foreign personalities. Other less-known images by Korda include shots of Castro staring warily at a tiger in a New York zoo, playing golf and fishing with Guevara, skiing and hunting in Russia, and with Ernest Hemingway.

Korda died in Paris on 28 May 2001, while attending an exhibition of his works.

It is ironical that the photo of the great Marxist revolutionary is today being worn on the chests of a diverse group of individuals, from those who truly support the ideals Che Guevara lived for to those expressing a more generalised anti-authoritarian stance, and to those who may not even know who he actually is: Angelina Jolie, Diego Maradonna, Mike Tyson and a whole array of football stars apparently have it tattooed on their bodies. The worse insult is that it is being exploited by capitalists as a marketing weapon; Barack Obama’s ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”HopeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ poster is widely considered to have been based on the Guvera photograph.

As the cover story of the Time Magazine of 8 Aug 1960 on Che Guevera, titled ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”CastroƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s BrainƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, noted: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Guevera wore a smile of melancholy sweetness that many women found devastatingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Alberto Korda immortalised that face for future generations.

4 Responses to “‘Guerrillero Heroico’: Fifty years since“Che” Guevera was immortalised”

  1. asoka9 Says:

    Patria i Muerte , Venceremos

    Asoka K

  2. Kit Athul Says:

    Ajit did you know that your hero Guevera was a rapist? He raped a high party official’s daughter and Castro found out about it. Castro wanted to kill him, his advisers found a nother way to get rid of him. (Chainese told him about it but he could not go back to Cuba) Send him to South America, it will happen automatically. Then blame the Americans. Do you knoe what is the greatest fear Castro brothers have today? Is fear of President Barak Obama. Yes, why, because all the time Castro tells his people, see, no Black man can be elected because the democracy in USA do not allow Blacks to get any where. 80% of cubans are of mixed race, only a hand full of the ruling circle are white Spanish. Your type of thought process is no longer viable in Sri Lanka, please stay in UK don’t go to go there look at the poll results!

  3. asoka9 Says:

    Kit Athul is sadly a foolish American stooge.
    He’s talking rot.

  4. ajit.rand Says:

    Kit Athul (whatever your name is)

    I don’t communicate with those who are sitting on their brains. Get up, increase blood supply to your brain, and then we will see how you go!

    asoka has already said what I would’ve said anyway.

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