I began collecting images of Che Guevara's face as it appeared in contexts of dissent shortly after the "Battle of Seattle" in 1999 and the birth of Indymedia. I had originally been struck by the photograph when I saw it on the cover of the French magazine PHOTO in 1997 to commemorate the 30 year anniversary of Guevara's assassination.
However, my curiosity was truly engaged after noticing how it appeared again and again around the world in dramatically different cultures, situations and times. Finally, after amassing over 400 images, I began to try to understand the phenomenon of this image's transnational and transtemporal persistence on a deeper level. Part of this exploration is visual as the three video montages I have completed so far show.
A research process
This first video is a visual story about the research journey itself with some tentative categorical analysis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDeKIEnuHNc&feature=channel
Facial Impressions
The second looks at artists' responses to the image and the variations in the representation of the face:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UZcFMmg3uE&feature=channel
The rhetoric of the face
Finally, the third looks more at the political rhetoric of the face as it has been used in contexts of dissent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuFXxEJKXSs&feature=channel
all material contained on this site is (c) Maria-Carolina Cambre unless otherwise noted