1. An extra from
the Mexican town of
Campeche
plays a rebel soldier for Stephen Soderbergh’s CHE.
2. Rebel Soldiers
Relax: Extras from Campeche,
Mexico
who play rebel soldiers fighting with Che Guevara in the battle
of Santa Ana. At the end of
each day on set, extras gathered to turn in their rifles and
other gear – and to relax.
3. Street
Fighting:
BENICIO DEL TORO (Che) and CATALINA SANDINO MORENO (Aleida) fight
together in streets of
Santa Clara. This was the first
photograph I made on the set of CHE.
4. Rebel Soldier:
One of the many extras from Campeche playing a guerilla fighter in Che’s
army. For my book, The Idea of Cuba, I photographed young Cuban
woman who had become Jineteras, or prostitutes, to survive
financially during the “special period†and waning days of
Fidel’s rule. On the set of Che I was particularly interested in
photographing ordinary Mexican women playing Cuban rebels and
townspeople, to have a sense of young Cuban women living through
a very different moment in history.
5. Orthello
Rensoli plays Pombo. Rensoli is awaiting his next scene on the
set of Che part one. In real life, Pombo also fought with Che to
create a revolution in Bolivia in the 1960s and later
became a brigadier general in the Cuban army.
6. Wounded
Soldiers: Extras playing wounded Batista soldiers after their
surrender.
7. Batista’s
Troops Shot: Stuntmen play Batista troops shot off their tank by
Che’s forces. This scene is being filmed from a balcony in front
of a tank to the right, so that these sacks are not visible in
the scene. As a photographer, I had to make sure that I was also
hidden by the tank as this scene unfolded.
8. Batista’s
Troops Have Surrended:
Extras from Campeche play both Batista’s troops and
guerrillas. In this scene Batista’s troops have surrendered and
they are being paraded through town by their captors.
9. Town Square
Celebration:
Townspeople and guerillas celebrate Che’s victory. Recognizable
guerrillas in the background are: KAHLIL MENDEZ (Urbano) in the
middle of guerrillas and JUAN CARLOS ARVELO (Rolando Cubela) in
cowboy hat and sling. Guns were fired when this scene was
practiced, and each time the town’s pigeons took to the air.
10. Rebel
Soldiers and Townspeople: Laura Bickford, the producer of CHE,
gave me the freedom to create some scenes with actors and
extras, scenes like this one that do not appear in the film.
Here I’ve asked the actors and extras to imagine what it would
have been like for the rebels to encounter townspeople from Santa Clara after the victory over Batista’s
troops.
From left: VICTOR RASUK (Rogelio Acevedo), ALFREDO DE QUESADA
(Israel Pardo) and ROBERTO URBINA (Guile Pardo) with extras from
Campeche.
11. Campeche Street
Barricade: I made
this photograph at sunrise in
Campeche,
Mexico. The day
before, the barricade in the background of this picture was
being used as part of the film. Shortly after I made this
photograph, the barricade was torn down and this street life
returned to normal.
To view more
photos, visit
www.alex-harris.com/assignments/2007_che/che_2/
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