Che Guevara (photo)

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This article is about the famous photograph and poster-art image of Che Guevara. For the main article, see Che Guevara.

Alberto Korda's photograph of Che Guevara

Alberto Korda's famous photograph of Che Guevara was taken on March 5, 1960 at a Cuban funeral service for victims of the La Coubre explosion,^[1] but was published seven years later. The Maryland Institute College of Art called Korda's photo, "The most famous photograph in the world and a symbol of the 20th century." ^[2]

Korda used a Leica loaded with Kodak Plus-X. On the same film there were photos of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir that were at that time much more valuable for Cuban newspapers and the photo was not published. Yet Korda made a small cropped print for himself.

The photo became famous only seven years later after the death of Guevara in Bolivia, when Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli obtained the rights to publish Guevara's Bolivian Diary and published the image as a large poster. Feltrinelli had obtained prints from Korda a few months before Guevara's death. It was originally planned to use the picture for the cover of the Italian edition of the diary.

The high contrast bust drawing that is based on the photo was made in 1968 in several variations—some in red and black, others in black and white and some in black and white with a red star—by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick, an artist most known for his depictions of Irish mythology. Fitzpatrick had received a copy of a print of the photo from a group of Dutch anarchists in 1965. Some believe that the source of this print is Jean-Paul Sartre.

Jim Fitzpatrick's version of the photo

A modified version of the portrait has been reproduced on a range of different media, though Korda never asked for royalties from most of those who reproduced the image because of his belief in Guevara's ideals. However, Korda at least once claimed copyright over the image to prevent it being used in an advertisement for vodka. Korda was a lifelong communist and only wanted to cut down on blatant commercialization of the image, telling reporters:

As a supporter of the ideals for which Che Guevara died, I am not averse to its reproduction by those who wish to propagate his memory and the cause of social justice throughout the world.

Fitzpatrick's graphic was later used in a painting attributed to Andy Warhol with the same graphic processes that he used on Marilyn Monroe pictures. However this painting is forgery allegedly created by Gerard Malanga and when Warhol got to hear of the fraud he shrewdly authenticated the fake - providing, of course, that all the money from sales went to him. Since then the image has appeared on countless posters, T-shirts, mugs, stickers, etc. and has become an icon for a new generation of youth in alternative culture. The image is now worn on the chests of a diverse group, from those who truly support the ideals that Che Guevara lived for (usually an image closer to the original picture); to those expressing a more generalised anti-authoritarian stance; to apolitical youths who may have little or no knowledge of the symbolism or history of Che Guevara.

A modification of Jim Fitzpatrick's high contrast drawing.

Cover of Madonna's album, American Life, which emulated Che's famous picture.

Cover of the videogame Just Cause emulating the photo of Che. The videogame is about a revolutionary who overthrows a dictator in a Latin American county, similar to events in Che's life