Rene Burri, a Swiss photographer best known for his iconic black and white portraits of Communist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara and painter Pablo Picasso, has died. He was 81.
Magnum Photos, the agency of which he had been a long-time member, confirmed Burri died in Zurich Monday of cancer.
“Not only was he one of the great post-war photographers, he was also one of the most generous people I have had the privilege to meet,” Martin Parr, the president of Magnum Photos, said in a statement. “His contribution to Magnum and his unrivalled ability to tell stories and entertain us over this time will be part of his enormous legacy.”
Born in Zurich in 1933, Burri was just a teenager when in 1946 he witnessed a visit to Switzerland by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Borrowing his father’s camera he took a picture of Churchill standing in an open-top car, the roadside crowds a blur in contrast with the strong-jawed British leader.
After his studies, Burri embarked on a photo documentary of a school for deaf-mute children in Zurich. Titled Touch of Music for the Deaf it was published in Life magazine, when Burri was 23.
Burri frequently photographed artists, including sculptor Alberto Giacometti and the architect Le Corbusier. An invitation to dine with Picasso in 1957 resulted in a series of intimate portraits of the painter.
He also travelled widely, including to the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, where during a visit to Cuba in 1963 Burri shot his famous picture of a cigar-chomping Che, seemingly pausing for thought during an interview.
Burri is survived by his second wife Clotilde Blanc, their son, and two children from an earlier marriage.
