From Image to Icon
Photographer Alberto
Korda captured an image of Che
Guevera at a funeral of workers in Havana in 1960. Rejected by the editors of the "Revolución", it hung in his apartment unnoticed for seven
years. A few months before Che’s execution, the Italian businessman
turned socialist, Feltrinelli requested a picture of Che. Korda gave him his
favourite picture. Within days of Che’s
death, Feltrinelli sold millions of Che posters. The following year in 1968,
the Irishman, Jim Fitzpatrick, designed the now iconic black-on-red Che poster. A very average looking man had
been turned into a smouldering revolutionary legend, inspiring social activists
across generations and nations from Bolivia to Baluchistan.
Allen Ginsberg said ““Whoever controls the media,
the images, controls the culture.” Marketing and advertising people are well
aware of this and use it as the cornerstone of communication and campaign
strategies. However there are many
images that never intended to be influential or whose creator had no idea of
how far reaching the influence would be. Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa remained
just one of many paintings for 300 years
until it was stolen from the Louvre in
1911 not to be returned till 1913. Overnight images were splashed across
newspapers that had only recently grown in circulation with faster presses,
improved transportation and growing literacy, coinciding with the birth of “hot
off the press” journalism. Today it is one of the most known, referenced and
used images. Would Michel Angelo have
predicted that of the 5,000 square feet of frescoes he painted in the Sistine
Chapel, the most reproduced image would be hands from the image of the creation
of Adam?
Most artists are remembered by their work and we rarely
know the person behind the artwork. Picasso and Dali were the exception, whose own
portraits were influential in establishing the myth of the artist, with Picasso the “most photographed artist in
history”. Philippe Halsman’s elaborately staged portrait of Dali became an art
work itself.
The 60s and 70s saw the dramatic rise of the art of
photography, both documenting and defining fashion, lifestyle, music, famous
personalities, politics and war. While art remained in the gallery or private
collections, photography went everywhere – via newspapers and magazines into
every home and across the world.
Many iconic moments were immortalized on camera: The
Civil Rights and Hippie movements, the Vietnam war, political events, the Music
and Film industry, as well as a new style of portraiture by photographers
such as Richard Avedon, David Bailey and Annie
Leibovitz who continues to be a celebrated photographer.
Personalities themselves can become images - the
fashion model, Twiggy, setting the trend of the skinny model; Brigitte Bardot’s
rebellious sensuality ; the electrifying Jimi Hendrix; Bob Dylan’s vagabond
minstrel image. Mick Jagger’s lips were immortalized both in photography and
the iconic rock “hot lips” logo. The visual impact of
Michael Jackson is as influential as his music and is imitated across the
world. The Sabri Brothers defined the
public perception of the qawwal with
long tresses, kajal filled eyes and pan stained lips. A whole
generation of South Asians emulated Dilip Kumar’s hairstyle, Raj Kapoor’s
moustache , Meena Kumari’s kiss curls –
and in our times, the global desi -“ we
are like this only”, Jiah Ali’s
Chaiwala, or the Pakistani grandmother of“bik gai hai yeh gormint” ( this
government has sold out) fame who now has her own Che style poster.
Universally accessible, the image is the most generous form of
communication. The viewer is not directed by a text, but invited to interpret
the image as they will, in the context of their own experiences.
Durriya Kazi
November 11, 2018
Durriyakazi1918@gmail.com
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