By Mary Murray. NBC NEWS. MSNBC,
May 30, 2001.
HAVANA, May 29 — Alberto Korda, one of the 20th century's most
renowned photographers, was buried in Havana on Tuesday. Cuban President Fidel
Castro was among those paying their last respects at Havana's Colon Cemetery.
THE 72-YEAR-OLD Korda, born Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, died of a heart
attack last Friday in Paris while arranging an exhibit of his work. Korda leaves
an extensive portfolio of thousands of historic images, capturing the early days
of the Cuban revolution through the eyes of an insider.
Korda was best known for his 1960 image of Ernesto "Che"
Guevara, one of the most reproduced photo in the world.
In Cuba, the portrait of the Argentine doctor who fought alongside
Fidel Castro, hangs in every school, hospital and government office.
The image dominates one entire wall in the Plaza of the Revolution
and is also a big seller to tourists who buy the picture of the young, defiant
Che wearing his signature black beret and five point star on souvenirs,
currency, calendars, and tee-shirts.
Korda took the shot on March 5, 1960, at a massive funeral for 136
Cubans killed in the explosion in Havana's harbor of a French freighter La
Coubre loaded with Belgium arms and ammunition. To this day, the Castro
government blames the CIA for the incident while the U.S. government has
consistently denied any American involvement.
"In an unexpected moment, Che came forward and I snapped two
frames. Che had the flu that day. I never thought it was a great picture. I took
it purely by accident," said Korda last summer in an interview with
MSNBC.com
"Che was a handsome man and there were hundreds of magnificent
photos of him taken by both Cuban and foreign photographers. But for some
reason, the world adopted my photo as THE photo of Che. There's something about
his eyes in the photo. A kind of mystery. His personality comes through. It's
always hung on my walls and I've given it to many people as a present."
PHOTO TURNED DOWN
But never to Che himself or Fidel Castro. In fact, when Korda offered
the photo to his editor at the newspaper Revolución, he turned it down.
The photo remained unknown until after Guevara's death in 1967 when Italian
publisher Giacomo Fetrinelli used the image on posters.
The Italian sold over one million copies in less than six months,
giving Korda neither credit nor royalties.
"It wasn't fair," complained Korda. "I thought he was
simply an admirer of Che so I gave him a copy and refused payment."
According to Korda, Fetrinelli never owned the copyright to the image
"Guerrillero Heroico" and the negative remains in Cuba. "But I
can't be angry because he made my photo famous."
Over the past few years, the Che photo was used in ads selling
everything from American coffee and Swatch watches to promoting church
attendance.
Last year, Korda won a $50,000 settlement against a British ad agency
that used the photo in their campaign for Smirnoff vodka. Korda donated the
money to the Cuban Public Health Ministry to buy medicine for pediatric cancer
patients.
CASTRO'S PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Korda was the son of a railroad worker who gave him his first camera
when he turned 17.
At 18, Korda sold soap and shampoo as a door-to-door salesman for
Procter and Gamble until he was fired for union activity. He next sold Remington
typewriters and carried a small camera with him to shoot "whatever moved
me."
The pictures he showed visitors from this era illustrate Cuban
poverty. He had two favorites, both black and whites, capturing layers of
shadows from natural light: a little girl cradling a piece of firewood that she
called her doll and a mother huddling in a doorway with her children covered in
newspapers to keep warm. His first chance to publish these photos came after
1959.
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In 1954, Korda landed a job shooting photos for an insurance
company. At 26 years old, he bought his first camera from Sears and Roebuck on
time payments and opened a studio with a friend Luis Peirce Viers.
He changed his name to "Korda," hoping people would hear it
as "Kodak." And, as luck would have it, he quickly discovered a
stunning statuesque blue-eyed girl, Norka Mendez.
She was 14 and longed to leave her sheltered middle-class home for
the bohemian life of a photographer's model. With Norka, Korda made his mark and
refined his trademark technique:
"My charm was in the way I used natural light. The competition
then photographed everything the same. They would take a can of soup or a
beautiful woman and use the same lightning. That's why my pictures stood out,"
Korda said
DRAWN TO STRUGGLE
During the 1950s, Korda lived a double life. "Like many
patriotic Cubans, I was drawn into the struggle" to oust dictator Fulgencio
Batista. Korda spent his days photographing chic fashion models, and his nights
smuggling guns and sheltering rebels as a secret member of the urban
underground.
From 1959 to 1969, Korda became Castro's personal photographer and
turned his lens to documenting the revolution's early tumultuous years.
"Eventually I replaced beautiful women with the Revolution,"
joked Korda who remained a devout "Fidelista" and true believer to the
end of his life.
It was his camera that captured the photo of a victorious Castro
rolling into Havana on Jan. 8, 1959, aboard one of the fallen army's
American-made tanks.
His best works include a number of excellent portraits of Castro,
including one standing before the Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.,
and his images of ordinary Cubans like El Quixote de la Farola, a peasant
perched on top of a lamp post surrounded by a sea of Castro supporters.
In 1969, Korda retired from politics. The year before, the government
had shut down his private studio along with any lingering small businesses left
on the island. Socialist zealots had launched a campaign called the "Ofensiva
Revolucionaria," — Cuba's equivalent of China's Cultural Revolution.
Historians consider it a turning point in Castro's rule when it
became the vogue to mirror everything in Soviet society. After the Revolutionary
Offensive swept across the island, the average Cuban could own only two pieces
of property, the house they lived in and their gravesite. It was a time of
extreme intolerance and many creative individuals such as Korda felt
constrained.
"They offered me a job photographing Cuban leaders but they
wanted me to put on a military uniform. So I quit and began underwater
photography for the Academy of Sciences."
Korda said he had learned the technique from photographing Fidel
Castro, an avid scuba diver.
He did this for the next 12 years, giving up the strain of underwater
photography in 1981 at the age of 53. Then, Korda came full-circle —
returning to the world of freelance photography, shooting ads and fashion
layouts for Cuban exports like Havana Club rum.
Until his death, he still dabbled in advertising "when the
money's good."
Most of his time though was dedicated to exhibiting his work abroad,
notably in Europe and the United States.
DONATED HIS WORK
About 10 years ago, Korda donated his entire photo library to the
Cuban Council of State, citing his lack of resources to preserve more than
10,000 old negatives and prints.
According to a family source, Korda recently drew up a will in
which he formally entrusted his entire life's work to the Cuban government —
including the lucrative Che photo that sold for between $500 and $1,000 a copy
when Korda lived.
In last year's interview, Korda explained his agreement with the
government, "I own the photos since I'm the author. When I disappear from
this world, the Che photo and the others belong to Cuba."
On the personal level, Alberto Korda lived an eccentric life. He was
married four times and leaves five children. Around town, Korda was known as a
man with a fondness for younger women. His companions were often 40 to 50 years
his junior.
"He loved three things in this world — women, rum and the
Cuban Revolution," remembered Norka Mendez, who married the photographer
when she was 15 and had two children by him. "He was also a humble man. Not
modest because he knew he had genius. But humble. He rejected the material life."
Norka believes Korda had a premonition about his death. Before
leaving for this last trip to France, Korda visited his ex-wife, spoke about
dying and made a last wish.
"He left me a bottle of his favorite rum and asked that I place
it in his casket. He said he planned to enjoy death as much as he's enjoyed
life."
Portia Siegelbaum in Havana contributed to this story.
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