Alberto Korda

Alberto Korda was born in Havana, Cuba on September 14th, 1928. He began his career as an apprentice in the 1950’s to the eccentric studio photographer, Newton Estapé, who carried his pet iguana around in his convertible Chevy. In 1956, ‘The Korda Studio’ was established and became a cultural meeting place for all the main figures of the cotemporary art scene of Havana in the ‘50’s. His passion for photography was fuelled by his desire to meet women. Fashion photography for him meant that he could be near to Cuba’s most beautiful women. He later married and fathered three children with Cuba’s most beautiful model. From 1956-1959 Estapé and Korda concentrated on capturing the cultivated consumer society of the times. Some of his greatest photos are of women in the nude, taken in black-and-white. His purpose with these shots was to portray women in all their natural beauty, no make-up or airbrushing. Korda used mainly black-and-white photography for a few reasons. For him, Cuban photography was black-and-white realism. Cuba was not glossy or colourful, it was real. Colour may be used more often in photography nowadays but he wouldn’t mind, he was of the opinion that the work of his contemporaries should stand apart from the new generations.

Alberto is most famous for his photograph of Ernesto Guevara taken on March 5th, 1960 at 11:20 am. When Korda was 31, Fidel Castro asked him to join his staff, which Korda did willingly. He worshipped Fidel and Che for their idealism for a new Cabaña. With this inside view, both he and friend Raúl Corrales were able to capture many remarkable shots of the leading politicians during the Cuban Revolution. The photo of Guevara was taken on a very solemn occasion, a funeral march for 71 people which all the Cuban leaders attended. Korda was watching from the crowd. He captured Che and the photo was cropped and placed inside the daily newspaper. Two and a half years later he gave two 8x10 prints to an Italian publisher, Gian Giacomo Feltrinelli, who then printed a million posters (without giving credit to the artist) and distributed them around the globe. Years later, the true author of the photo was acknowledged and Alberto Korda’s name is now recognized as the man behind such a famous work of art. On March 14th, 1968, Fidel Castro began a campaign known as ‘Ofensiva Revolucionaria’ under which the remnants of the capitalist system would be eradicated once and for all from the national territory. The next day private facilities of trade and service were “nationalized” and came under state control and property. The Korda Studio was “intervened” and expropriated by officers. The stored negatives were kept but most of his original prints were destroyed or confiscated. What is left is estimated to represent 10% of his total output of over 40 years of photography. Some original prints, photocopies from publications of those years, photos in private collections, or in the hands of friends, and the negatives related to his work alongside Fidel and Che are now graphic treasures.

Alberto Korda’s life came to a close in Paris on the 25th of May, 2001.

Here at Casa Panorámica, we are pleased to have four original black-and-white nude photos and a print of Fidel Castro shaking hands with Ernest Hemingway. They hang in our Alberto Korda suite, named after him.