Tag: mexican revolution

Emiliano Zapata en su cuarte de Cuernavaca, retrato. Cuernavaca, Mexico, 1911. Instituto Nacional de Antropología de Historia. Num. Inv. 186458. 

There are a few iconic revolutionary images that are famous the world over. The most famous, of course, is the image of Che Guevara wearing his black beret. That particular image was taken by Alberto Korda on March 5, 1960 in Havana, Cuba. Another well known image of a revolutionary leader is the one you see above – Emiliano Zapata at the Moctezuma Hotel in Cuernavaca (Morelos, Mexico). What is not well known is who took the photograph of one of the Mexican Revolution’s most revered leaders. Initially, it was thought that the celebrated Mexican photographer Agustín Victor Casasola was responsible for taking the photograph. Then, in 1995 researchers in Mexico attributed the photograph to another photographer of the Mexican Revolution – Hugo Brehme.

From October 2010 – May 2011, while working as a researcher for an exhibition on the Mexican Revolution at the Getty Research Institute, I was asked to gather information on the events that occurred in Cuernavaca at the time the Zapata image was taken. Upon giving me this assignment, the curator of the exhibition still believed Hugo Brehme was the author of the image. As I was compiling data on Zapata’s activities in Cuernavaca during 1911, I found a revealing article about the famous image in the Spanish language photography journal, Alquimia, written by Mayra Mendoza Aviles, Deputy Director of Mexico’s National Photographic Library at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia). Unexpectedly, I found Mendoza Aviles pointing to strong evidence that precludes Hugo Brehme from being the author of the image.

First, Mendoza Aviles states the signature of the photographer, commonly seen on images from the era, is not that of Brehme’s. Second, the notes on the negative are written in English and are in cursive. This is problematic because Brehme did not practice the English language nor was it common for him to write in cursive. Furthermore, when he did write notes on the negatives they were either in his native German or in Spanish. Third, the portrait of Zapata, signed (as is usually the case) or unsigned, does not exist in any of the collections of Brehme’s work. 

Well, then who is responsible for taking this iconic image of Emiliano Zapata? To find out, Mendoza Aviles and her colleagues utilized state-of-the-art computer technology that wiped away the image and revealed the bit of text that is faintly showing near the tip of the sword. When observed in this manner the text spells out the name “F. Moray” or “F. McKay." 

Who is this mysterious "Moray” or “McKay?” Well, there is no known photographer with that name. Mendoza Aviles suggests it is quite possible that an American photographer crossed the border from the U.S. to take photos of the Mexican Revolution. After all, journalists and photographers covered the Revolution in great numbers (the Mexican Revolution was the first armed conflict to be documented by photojournalists).

One can find Zapata standing gallantly with rifle and sword in hand on posters and clothing across the globe. It is incredible to think that no one really knows who is responsible for such a world famous image. Although the origins of Zapata’s image remain a mystery, one thing is for certain – the curator of the exhibition needed to replace Hugo Brehme’s name with “Unknown.”

The exhibition A Nation Emerges: The Mexican Revolution Revealed is on view at the Getty Gallery at the Los Angeles Central Library through June 3, 2012. 

Information for this blog was found in the following sources:

Mendoza Aviles, Mayra. “El Zapata de Brehme: análisis de un caso.” Alquimia: Sistema Nacional de Fototecas 36 (2009): 83-85.

Mraz, John. Fotografiar la Revolución Mexicana. (Mexico, D.F.: INAH, 2010), 219-221.

Ken Elllingwood, “Zapata Photo Shrouded in Mystery,” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2009, Accessed February 3, 2011. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/06/world/la-fg-mexico-zapata6-2009dec06.