Erling mandelmann
René Burri
PhotographerKnown for:
his 1963 portrait of Che Guevara; Magnum photojournalism
Education:
Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich (1949-1953, under Hans Finsler and Johannes Itten)
René Burri joined Magnum Photos in 1959 and over the following decades photographed in Cuba, China, Brazil, and throughout the Middle East. His 1963 photograph of Che Guevara smoking a cigar in Havana - taken during a brief and unplanned encounter in the minister's office - became one of the most widely reproduced political portraits of the twentieth century. He was also the author of a significant monograph on the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.
René Burri's Gear List(2)
Kodak
Connection note
Burri shot on Kodachrome for his color work at Magnum Photos; the film was standard among Magnum photographers working in color from the 1960s onward.
Product description
Kodachrome 64 is a color reversal (slide) film discontinued by Kodak in 2010 after more than seven decades of production. Its dye-based structure produced colors with exceptional stability and saturation, and it was the predominant film in professional color photography for much of the postwar period.
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Last updated March 20, 2026
