-- Tells the extraordinary story behind one of the most published photographs in the world
-- Include dozens of rare official and personal documents from Guevara's life -- among them the first letter he wrote as a child, his farewell letter to Castro, his M.D. Diploma, and his press pass
Inspired by the celebrated photograph of Che Guevara, that shows the revolutionary, beret on his head, gazing with piercing eyes off into the future, French journalist Christophe Loviny has created a unique tribute to the man in the form of a photobiography. As a photographer, Loviny has been fascinated by the power of that image, which continues to have a strong impact after more than 30 years. With the help of Alberto Korda, who took the photograph, he went to Cuba and began to piece together Guevara's history through images. The result is The Che Family Album.
Born in Argentina in 1923 Guevara joined the Cuban revolution in 1959 and launched his own guerilla war in 1966 in Bolivia, which lead to his infamous death. A fascinating individual who came to prominence during some of the most dramatic moments of the Cold War, he was an intelligent, humorous, and self-deprecating man who could also be ruthless and doctrinaire. Thanks in part, to the famous Korda photograph, he is today a symbol of revolution, considered both a hero and a man ahead of his time.
Containing 300 black-and-white photographs; interviews with Guevara's family, friends, and associates; and previously unpublished documents, The Che Family Album chronicles Guevara's life: as a child playing cowboys-and-Indians, a young doctor, an Argentinean adventure a Cuban minister, and, finally, a freedom fighter. The images arepowerful, and often amusing, and Loviny succeeds in fleshing out the portrait of the man that many know as just a two-dimensional icon.
