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The day before Alberto Korda took his iconic photograph
of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, a ship had exploded
in Havana Harbor, killing the crew and dozens of
dockworkers. Covering the funeral for the newspaper
Revolución, Korda focused on Fidel Castro, who in a fiery
oration accused the U.S. of causing the explosion. The
two frames he shot of Castro’s young ally were a seeming
afterthought, and they went unpublished by the newspaper.
But after Guevara was killed leading a guerrilla movement
in Bolivia nearly seven years later, the Cuban regime
embraced him as a martyr for the movement, and Korda’s
image of the beret-clad revolutionary soon became its
most enduring symbol. In short order, Guerrillero Heroico
was appropriated by artists, causes and admen around
the world, appearing on everything from protest art to
underwear to soft drinks. It has become the cultural
shorthand for rebellion and one of the most recognizable
and reproduced images of all time, with its influence long
since transcending its steely-eyed subject.GUERRILLERO HEROICO Alberto Korda, 1960