MC Saizmundo, alter ego of journalist and musician Deian ap Rhisiart, was given a warm welcome at the home of one of Cuba’s most famous residents, Diana Díaz López while filming for S4C’s Fo, Fi a’r MC music documentary.
Diana is the daughter of world-famous photographer Alberto Korda (1928-2001), who was appointed personal photographer to Fidel Castro following the revolution in Cuba and took the iconic photo of Che Guevara (1928-1967).
Deian learns about the photo’s amazing history in the first programme in the series, in which he follows in the footsteps of renowned Welsh bard T. H. Parry-Williams to South America, broadcast tomorrow on S4C (12 March) at 9.00pm.
Korda took the picture of Che Guevara in March 1960. Che was attending the funeral of one of the victims of the La Coubre boat explosion and he stood for a brief moment in front of the camera and stared at the horizon. Korda was quick enough to capture the moment and turn it into an iconic image. Even today, Che Guevara’s worldwide fame is associated with this remarkable photo.
In 1967 Korda gave the photo as a present to an Italian and when Che Guevara was killed in October that year, a print was made of the original and more than one and a half million copies were sold in a matter of months.
“My father used to go everywhere with Fidel and took photos of Che as well when he had the chance,” smiles Diana Díaz López as she talks about her father.
Korda didn’t receive a penny for one of the world’s most iconic pictures and he was buried in 2001 with his headstone carved in exactly the same shape as the renowned photo.
