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HAA 247
March 10, 2014
Alberto Korda and the history of Guerrillero Heroico
Since 1827, cameras have allowed photographers to capture frozen moments of life while
at war and peace. Some of these moments have gone largely unnoticed while others tell the story
of a revolution that traveled across the Caribbean for 15 years. One such photo, Guerrillero
Heroico, is known by the Maryland Institute of Art as the most famous photograph in the world.1
The photo, taken by Alberto Korda, features Che Guevara staring off in his iconic black beret
and has been seen by much of the world. However, little is said of the photographer that snapped
the instantly recognizable photo. While many photographers escaped the Cuban Revolution with
historical photos, only Alberto Korda and his image Guerrillero Heroico has achieved such a
level of notoriety.
Guerrillero Heroico was taken nearly on accident and without much thought or planning. Shot
during a memorial ceremony, Guerrillero Heroico is a portrait of famed revolutionary Che
Guevara. Hidden from view, facing Guevara, is a crowd of over a thousand people patiently
waiting to hear Ches remarks on a spectacular disaster that claimed the lives of over a hundred
people near the shores of Havana. The photo paints the face of a young, strong, and determined
leader hell-bent on making things right in his revolution-torn country. His tight facial expression
and focused eyes address the crowd visually as if to provide comfort and a sense of security in
the same way a father would protect his children. Hes wearing his black beret adorned with a
star, a symbol of the Comandante at the time. The image was taken during the day under natural
light which provided the perfect background to embolden the contrasting Guevara portrait.

1 BBC News. Che Guevara photographer dies.. news.bbc.co.uk.

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Alberto Korda was born Alberto Diaz Gutierrez in Havana, Cuba on September 14th,
1928. At around age 15, Korda began using a camera to take shots of his girlfriend and learned to
train his eye bye collecting pictures and photographs he liked in magazines.2 Alberto attended
business school in Havana from 1946-1950. He then held various small time jobs but was always
sure to take along his camera.3 He began his career in photography by shooting weddings,
banquets and baptisms. To earn money, hed run to his studio to develop the film and return to
the functions to sell the photos to people who wanted them as a keepsake.4 After many years,
Korda and a friend opened up their first studio aptly named, Korda. It was at this time Korda
found his true calling in shooting fashion and within two years he was the best known
photographer on the island, 5 but political events would soon shift his focus elsewhere.
During the Cuban Revolution, a young lawyer and activist, Fidel Castro, petitioned the courts to
legally have the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista thrown out of office for corruption and
tyranny. Despite the strong legal backing of his case, the courts rejected his claim and Castro
resorted to launching an armed revolution.6 Castro, with the aide of his brother Raul, launched a
paramilitary organization known as the Movement. They began gathering much needed
munitions and recruited over 1,000 followers. In the years that followed, the group launched
numerous small and large scale attacks against military installations and would even see their
own leader, Castro, detained and jailed. Finally, in late 1958, Castros men took victories over
many towns resulting in Batista fleeing the country in January of 1959 and Castro taking over.
In the same year as Batistas ousting, Alberto Korda and, his friend and mentor, Raul Corrales
2 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk
3 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk
4 Jaime Sarusky, Cuba by Korda, (Ocean Press, 2006), 1.
5 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk
6 Christoper, Minster. About.com, "Biography of Fidel Castro.

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became the primary documentarians of the Cuban Revolution. By 1961, Korda had become
Castros personal photographer, following him and fellow activist Che Guevara into the jungle,
to speaking engagements, on to overseas trips and around his hometown. It was during this time
Alberto Korda took the most recognized photograph in the world.7
On March 5, 1960, a memorial service was held for 136 men killed after a belgian ship carrying
munitions blew up in Havana Harbor.8 Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and photographer Alberto
Korda were in attendance at the event and were expected to speak. As explained by his daughter,
Diana Korda, Korda had been busy taking photos as usual that day. After a brief pause, Korda
scanned the stage and briefly found Guevara appearing behind Castro. Korda snapped one
picture, readjusted and quickly snapped another. It was in this split second that Alberto Korda
captured an image of Guevara as a noble, stone faced, leader-Guerrillero Heroico.9,10
After an attempt to have the image published by the newspaper he was working for, Revolucion,
was rejected, he hung a copy of the print on his bathroom wall, unseen for seven years. It wasnt
until an italian man representing himself as an admirer of the Cuban Revolution requested an
image of Guevara. Korda gave the man a negative of the print and would not accept payment
from the man as he was a fellow sympathizer. Unknown to Korda at the time, the man who came
to see him was Giangiacomo Fetrinelli, a well known publisher looking for a striking cover
photo for a possible biography he was thinking about commissioning. Months later, Guevara was
dead and Fetrinelli saw it as an opportunity to make money. In early 1968 Fetrinelli published
Guevaras book, Bolivian Diaries, and promoted it with posters created from Kordas negative.11
7 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk
8 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk
9 Chevolution. Youtube Video.
10 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk
11 Cambre, Maria-Carolina. Stealing or Steeling the Image? The failed branding of the Guerrillero
Heroico image of Che Geuvera

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It had sold over a million copies in six months.12 Thus began the transformation of a revolutionist
into a popular culture icon.
Guerillero Heroico was seen as a universal emblem of youthful protest and discontent, and a
fixture in student accommodation the world over.13 In the ensuing years, the world will see the
photo attached to publications, clothing and advertisements. Millions of dollars were made from
the photograph but Alberto Korda didn't see any of it. Fidel Castros decision to not sign the
Berne Convention, which places worldwide regulations on copyrights and intellectual property,
prevented Koda from claiming the work as his own.14 Despite the capitalization and
commercialization of Guerrillero Heroico, Alberto Korda never took issue with its use until
Smirnoff decided to use it for advertising purposes. Dermis Perez, author and art reviewer, nicely
sums up the reason behind the resulting effect of Castros failure to sign the Berne Convention
and what it meant to Korda:
In 1968, Cuba's Council of the State took charge of all of Korda's negatives, not only
those of his travels with Fidel or his records of rallies and revolutionary activities, but
also the originals of his fashion sessions. The frustration of losing control of many
years

of work drove him to focus, at the age of 50, on undersea photography.

In 1999, Smirnoff wanted to place an iteration of Guerrillero Heroico in their ads to sell

vodka. Korda took issue with it and sued them. Smirnoff and Korda settled out of court for an
undisclosed sum of money that he promptly donated to a nearby hospital. Depsite the fame and
potential financial gain from the distribution and commercialization of the image, Korda refused
to have the image used in way that went against Ches ideology. In Stealing or Steeling the

12 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk

13 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk
14 The Telegraph. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk

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image? The failed branding of the Guerrillero Heroico image of Che Geuvera, Maria Cambre
writes Korda claimed using Ches image for selling vodka was a slur on his [Guevaras] name
emphasizing that Che never drank himself, was not a drunk, and [that] drink should not be
associated with his immortal memory.15
The commercialization of Guerrillero Heroico has much to do with artists experimenting with
ways to make poster art more appealing. One artist, Don Honeyman, was experimenting with a
process known as a solarisation and was approached by the poster company Fretrinelli hired to
create his promotional posters to create the art for them. Immediately, Honeyman had problems
replicating the look in Ches eyes as it was originally printed in Europe. He compared the image
from the poster company to one printed in Europe and discovered that the European designer had
slimmed Ches face by stretching and elongated it. Honeyman did the same with his and it
worked like a charm. The image we are so familiar with today, isnt even a true depiction of what
Che looked like.16
Its important to note that Alberto Korda wasnt a one-hit-wonder. His photographs have made
their way across the world from gallery to gallery in art exhibitions. In 2009, Dermis Perez wrote
about one such exhibition by curator Christina Vives. She created a narrative of the show based
on five chapters: Korda Studio, The leaders, The People, Woman, and The Sea.17 She wanted
visitors to see The goal of this tribute to the creator of Che's best-known image was to reaffirm
his Indisputable mastery and his place of pride in International photography, beyond the
fortunate individual with a single snapshot.18 Dermis describes the artistic ability of Kordas
15 Cambre, Maria-Carolina. Stealing or Steeling the Image? The failed branding of the Guerrillero
Heroico image of Che Geuvera
16 Hilton, Isabel. "Che Still a messiah?."
17 Prez, Dermis. "Alberto Korda."
18 Prez, Dermis. "Alberto Korda."

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images as that of a master artist. His ability to perfectly capture his subjects in natural light was
far more superior than anyone of that time. He calls Korda an undisputed master of
documentary images and places emphasis on his work that far surpasses the original image of
Che. And while his skill is given high praise, Korda humbly admits that the iconic photo of Che
didnt result from years of experience perfecting his technique in fashion photography, rather it
was created out of pure luck.19
For these reasons, it must be accepted that Alberto Korda is the best photographer to
leave the Cuban Revolution with a collection of images that are not only artistically beautiful,
but known the world over. His photo of Che Guevara is considered to be the most famous
photograph in the world with artists and designers scrambling to incorporate his work into their
current and future projects. His image Guerrillero Heroico has been commercialized to such an
extent that Smirnoff wanted to use it in advertising campaigns for their brand of Vodka. Finally,
no other photograph, in recent times, has ever swayed entire generations to standup for what they
believe in and fight the good fight. Kordas technique and style far exceeded the norm set forth
by earlier pioneers of photography and has shown us that when we see the worst of times, theres
an opportunity to photograph the best of times.

19 "The Photographer behind the Face of Ernesto Che Guevara." Art History Archive.

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APPENDIX
Guerrillero Heroico (Original)
March 5, 1960
Havana, Cuba

Guerrillero Heroico (Cropped)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cambre, Maria-Carolina. Stealing or Steeling the Image? The Failed Branding of the
Guerrillero Heroico Image of Che Gevara. Imaginations Journal 3, no. 1
(Summer 2012
2012): 64-91. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed
February 1, 2014).
"Chevolution." YouTube video, 1:25:54. Posted by infolinks,"
September 6, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn3Ua8kPvhc.
Christoper, Minster. About.com, "Biography of Fidel Castro." Accessed March 7, 2014.
http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/historyofthecaribbean/p/08fidelcastro.htm.
Hilton, Isabel. "Che Still a messiah?." New Statesman 136, no. 4865 (October 8, 2007): 30-33.
Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 19, 2014).
Prez, Dermis. "Alberto Korda." Art Nexus 8, no. 72 (March 2009): 110-111. Art Full Text (H.W.
Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed February 1, 2014).
Sarusky, Jaime. Cuba by Korda. Ocean Press, 2006.
Telegraph Media Group. Alberto Korda.. telegraph.co.uk.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1331885/Alberto-Korda.html (accessed
February 1, 2014)
"The Photographer behind the Face of Ernesto Che Guevara." Art History Archive.
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/photography/Alberto-Korda.html
(accessed March 5, 2014).
Unused Sources
Prez, Dermis. "Alberto Korda." Art Nexus 8, no. 72 (March 2009): 110-111. Art Full Text (H.W.
Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed February 1, 2014).