The Corpse of Che Guevara
A surreal scene of death on display and the unmasking of an "anonymous" photographer.
On October 10, 1967, the body of Che Guevara was put on display after his execution by the Bolivian army. Several photographers captured the surreal scene in the laundry room of a hospital in rural Vallegrande, Bolivia. The most widely-published photo was made by Marc Hutten, a correspondent for Agence France-Presse. Hutten’s is the only version in color.
More photographs taken by Hutten surfaced in 2012. These stark, black and white photos were made the day before Che’s body was cleaned and put on display by the Bolivian army (notice the unbuckled belt).
“I saw yesterday afternoon the bullet-riddled and lifeless body of a guerrilla called Ramon, presumed nom de guerre of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara.
We were around 30 journalists, only three of us foreign correspondents, who travelled to Vallegrande, a town slumbering in the southeastern Bolivia heat, to record the death of one of the most distinguished of guerrillas.” - Marc Hutten
Hutten wasn't the only one to make photos of Che before his body was cleaned. Brian Moser, a filmmaker with Granada Television traveling with Guardian reporter Richard Gott and Reuters’ Christopher Roper, had only a half a roll film left in his camera when he shot these two photos.
TIME magazine’s Caracas Bureau Chief, Mo Garcia, also photographed Che's body on display in the hospital in Vallegrande. Framed vertically, Garcia beautifully captured a range of emotions and body language behind Che’s outstretched body. Garcia’s story and photo was published in the October 20, 1967 issue of TIME.
But for me, this version of Che’s body on display, by Bolivian photographer Freddy Alborta is the most powerful. The entire story is being told in this one iconic, layered image.
Alborta's photo, "The Corpse of Che," has been compared to Mantegna's Lamentation of Christ and Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.
The Bolivian solider pointing his finger into Che’s body also reminds me of Caravaggio's The Incredulity of Saint Thomas.
Alborta's contact sheets documenting Che Guevara's corpse on display are fascinating and revealing. You can see how Alborta worked the surreal scene and made his iconic photo and much more.
The contact sheets also prove Alborta shot these photos, credited to "Anonymous" in the Associated Press archive.
These four photos in the AP archive, credited to “AP Photo,” were also taken by Freddy Alborta.
Getty Images is licensing Alborta's iconic photo. There are two versions on their site, one from the Bettmann Archive (Alborta is uncredited) and another from Bride Lane Library/Popperfoto. Unfortunately, photographers names are often lost or omitted when archives are acquired.
Sadly, Freddy Alborta died in 2002. I had the opportunity to talk to Freddy’s son, Jorge, who gave me permission to show his photos and contact sheets. Jorge said he hopes that his father’s iconic photos are properly credited in the future.