Beginning early in 1960 photographer Alberto Korda and Cuban revolutionary icon Che Guevara became forever intertwined by history. It was on March 5th in 1960 when Korda took the famed photo of Guevara. Quickly the image became famous because Korda photos about the triumph of the Cuban Revolution were highly prized, but soon the photo evolved into one of the most seen and most famous photos and portraits in the hisstory of the world. Even dorm rooms at thousands of U. S. colleges and universities featured the uniquely iconic and ubiquitous photo of Korda's ultra-powerful photographic portrait of Che Guevara.
But Alberto Korda himself was surprised that the Che Guevara photo instantly got such fame. For sure, Korda had earlier been more notable for stressing revolutionary photos of important but non-famed Cuban rebels, such as the photo Korda took of this female Cuban fighter to emphasize the fact that women were ultra-important as revolutionary fighters, decision-makers, recruiters, etc., and not just the most historic ones such as Celia Sanchez, Tete Puebla, Vilma Espin, Haydee Santamaria, etc.
In fact, Alberto Korda once considered this as the most important revoluutionary photo he had taken. This shows Camilo Cienfuegos and Fidel Castro, two of the most powerful rebel commanders and fighters. After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1st of 1959, many of the everyday Cuban people rated Camilo and Fidel about equal as future leaders of Cuba. The very popular Camilo, however, was killed later in 1959 at AGE 27 when the small airplane he was in crashed into the ocean on October 28th-1959 during a storm on the edge of the island...a mere few months after Camilo had played such a huge part in winning the Revolution.
The great photographer Alberto Korda was born in Havana on September 14th in 1928 and he died in Paris on May 25th in 2001 while he was being honored for his immortal photo of Che Guevara. But some family members later said that one of Korda's other photos had even more impact on his personal life.
This photo was taken by Alberto Korda. It shows a little Cuban girl standing in the doorway of her home, a peasant shack. She was very tightly and lovingly holding a block of wood, pretending it was a doll. Korda had taken a lot of photos that day but it was later that night when he was developing and studying the photos that this one powerfully gripped him and he began to cry uncontrollably. For the rest of his life, this photo made Alberto Korda cry every time he took time to study and reflect on it. Yes, he got to know the little girl and made sure she had a real doll and nice clothes. In Paris in 2001 while being celebrated because of the Che Guevara photo, Alberto Korda admitted, "I have taken millions of photos. But the one that constantly remains in my heart is the one of the little girl pretending that she had a doll."
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