He brought hurricanes and Celia Cruz closer to us. Miami photographer C.M. Guerrero dies

LOCAL OBITUARIES

He brought hurricanes and Celia Cruz closer to us. Miami photographer C.M. Guerrero dies

BY GERMÁN GUERRA

MAY 28, 2019 06:00 AM 

Duration 2:19

Through the lens of C.M. Guerrero

Life through the lens of photojournalist C.M. Guerrero. BY C.M. GUERRERO

Longtime photojournalist Carlos Manuel “C.M.” Guerrero, who spent more than three decades documenting moments of history for el Nuevo Herald and the Miami Herald, died Sunday following a long battle with congestive heart failure. He was 62.

Born in Santiago de Cuba in 1956, he was a toddler when his family joined thousands of other Cubans who ultimately fled the island and carved out a new life in the United States. He attended St. John the Apostle Catholic School in Hialeah, graduated from Miami Springs Senior High School and earned a degree from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. 

He joined the Miami Herald Media Co. in November 1987 and, despite health issues years later, continued to work and to produce excellent visuals through the end of 2018, including stellar coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma’s passage through South Florida. One of his most iconic photos was the result of another disaster: Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Guerrero captured a haunting image of an elderly man standing in floodwater with a look as devastated as the destruction surrounding him. The Miami Herald won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage and service to the community in the wake of the storm.

“I loved what I did as a photographer, but it was time to move on [to] a new chapter of my life,” Guerrero wrote in an exchange with a reporter earlier this year after taking an early retirement. Few knew he was ill. 

Beyond natural disasters, Guerrero covered daily slices of life, sports, celebrities, crime and various large news events, including the international custody battle nearly 20 years ago involving a Cuban boy rescued at sea by the name of Elián González.

“My brother loved what he did,” said his sister Jenny Manzano. “He loved his work.”

Colleagues sent an outpouring of tributes, recalling him as a passionate journalist with a sense of humor and a knack for sharing compelling tales. 

“C.M. was a photo natural. It was basically impossible for him to take a bad image, even if he tried,” said Orlando Mellado, the visual editor at el Nuevo and the Miami Herald. “Old school, street-savvy, hard-nosed, he was adept at overcoming obstacles to get the job done.” 

“He was an outstanding photojournalist, vivid storyteller and incredible human being. His empathy for those whose lives he documented showed through his images,” said Nancy San Martín, managing editor of el Nuevo Herald. “He had a wonderful sense of humor, which always brought laughter to those lucky enough to be around him. We will miss his contribution to the work we do and his friendship.” 

Beyond photography, Guerrero loved life. He spent years riding motorcycles, taking in the South Florida scenery with friends. He enjoyed music, social gatherings and scrumptious meals. He also served as a mentor, sharing his knowledge and talent with younger journalists.

His generous nature touched many, leaving those who knew him grieving. 

“Broken Hearted! I can’t capture the essence of this man in words,” wrote a longtime friend in a string of emails shared by colleagues.

But perhaps he was most proud, as he liked to say, of being Cuban singer Celia Cruz’s favorite and personal photographer. Prior to her death, he traveled with the artist to the Naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and documented much of her career in the United States while developing a close relationship with her.

“His friendships reached far outside our photo circle,“ said colleague Emily Michot.

David Santiago, another fellow photojournalist, used one word to describe Guerrero: “Passionate.”

Guerrero was predeceased by his mother, Elba Guerrero, and two siblings, Alberto Guerrero and Sylvia Cancio. He is survived by his 99-year-old father, Adalberto Guerrero, three of five siblings — Eduardo Guerrero, Ileana García and Jenny Manzano — several nieces and nephews and other close relatives. Manzano, who was born in Miami and is the youngest of the siblings, said family members worried about his illness, took turns caring for him and watched helplessly as he suffered. 

“It is going to be very hard not to see him anymore, but we are at peace knowing that he is finally at rest,” she said. “His illness brought us closer together. I will cherish that forever.” 

A memorial service will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. Thursday at Vior Funeral Home, 291 NW 37th Ave. 

Aftermath of Hurricane Andrew

Carlos Manuel “C.M.” Guerrero

GALLERY

RELATED LINKS: 

PHOTOS: El Nuevo Herald photographer’s tale: My moment with Celia Cruz

Miami Herald:  He brought hurricanes and Celia Cruz closer to us. Miami photographer C.M. Guerrero dies

Photojournalists C.M. Guerrero and Patrick Farrell take buyouts at Miami Herald

On Thursday, several of the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald’s finest took buyouts. In the photography department, C.M. Guerrero and Patrick Farrell will no longer be working for Miami’s newspaper of record. Charles Trainor's Miami Herald newsroom goodbye email to Guerrero and Farrell reminded of how fortunate I have been to work closely with Guerrero plus the Miami winners of the Pulitzer Prize in Photojournalism who I have worked with in Miami; Patrick Farrell, Michel du Cille, Carol Guzy, Brian Smith and Alan Diaz. Smith won the Pulitzer as a staffer at the LA Times before joining the Herald and Alan Diaz won it for the Associated Press. We have lost Michel and Alan, Carol has moved on to Washington, DC, Smith is a celebrated portrait photographer for the stars and now Patrick and Guerrero are no longer a staffer at the Miami Herald. When I started working at the Herald we had over 35 photographers on staff. As I said, I have been fortunate to work with so many outstanding award-winning photojournalists and I'm sure it has made me a better photographer. 

Below are Trainor’s goodbye emails to Patrick and Guerrero.

PATRICK
My friend and colleague Patrick Farrell is leaving the Miami Herald to pursue other opportunities in photography. Patrick and I started together in a small bureau in Hollywood and, together, we shared a passion for our work and the Miami Herald. During those few years, I saw a photographer with an eye unlike any I’ve ever studied or work with. He saw his images with such a unique perspective. 

When Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992 it was a tragic time for South Florida, but our photo staff rose to the occasion and produced incredible images that helped the world see the tragic consequences of the storm. The Miami Herald won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The photo staff didn’t win the photojournalism category, we were finalists but we were fortunate to be able to say we were part of the newsroom's effort. 

Then in 2009, Hurricane Ike struck Haiti. Patrick Farrell and Jacqueline Charles were on the island, with great possible consequences to their well-being. Their coverage of the story grabbed the hearts of the world. Jacqueline’s stories and Patrick’s images to this day can bring a tear to the eye of the viewer. Patrick, with two small children at home, had his heart ripped out watching the parents and friends hold their sons and daughters who were lost in the floods. Those of us close to Patrick could see the emotional and physical toll it took on him. 

Patrick’s work in Haiti was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News in Photojournalism, one of three Pulitzers in Photojournalism that photography staffers have won for the Miami Herald. He joined a talented legacy paved by Carol Guzy and the late Michel du Cille for winning the Pulitzer Prize in Photojournalism at the Miami Herald. Their names on that incredible wall in our lobby. 

I accompanied Patrick on his last Miami Herald assignment. It was at the University of Miami, where he attended college and is now a professor of photojournalism – a fitting final assignment. As we talked about his time at the Herald, he remarked, “I’ve never seen finer coverage of a hurricane than our staff did with Hurricane Andrew. Each photographer had so many remarkable images, each had a Pulitzer entry of their own.” That’s quite a compliment from the 2009 Pulitzer winner in Photojournalism. It demonstrates how Patrick always deflects attention and always supports his colleagues. We will miss his generous spirit and his talent.

The Photographer’s Storm: Patrick Farrell and His Photos of Storm-Ravaged Haitihttps://vimeo.com/8729472

GUERRERO
Today I would like to bid farewell to another colleague, Carlos Guerrero. Carlos’ tenure at the Miami Herald and El Nuevo has been marked with excellent work and a flair to describe a moment in time with words like no other. It has always been a pleasure to have a conversation with Carlos. And we will never forget his iconic image of the man standing in water, disheveled and shocked after Hurricane Andrew. It ran the full page on 1A, a striking photo that to this day can be considered the iconic image from the storm. 

I’m honored to have shared an acknowledgment with Carlos. Carlos and I were recognized by a committee at Knight Ridder for photographing two of the most important images taken by photographers at the Miami Herald: Carlos’ Hurricane Andrew photograph of the man and my image of the women in the raft during the Cuban rafters crisis. That is something he and I will always share. 

I have covered countless Miami Dolphins games, Carlos contributing to that coverage, and to this day I will always admire his image of Miami Dolphins receiver Chris Chambers’ one-handed touchdown catch in the end zone. Carlos scored that day, too. 

I can speak for us all in the photo department when I say that, “Carlos, we will miss you, but we will always be friends!”

Hurricane Andrew: Flamingos in the Bathroom

During Hurricane Andrew, flamingos huddled in the bathroom of Miami Metrozoo. Ron Magill along with the staff of the zoo, now called Zoo Miami, rounded up the flamingos and put them in the bathroom for safety. Photo by Ron Magill. Radio Interview

BY ARIANNA PROTHERO
APROTHERO@MIAMIHERALD.COM
For his entire adult life, Ron Magill has been responsible for taking care of animals.

Twenty years ago, he was the assistant curator at Miami Metrozoo and the man behind the lens for one of the most famous photos to come out of Hurricane Andrew.

In the picture, a bunch of flamingos huddle in a public restroom in the zoo. Hay covers the tiled floor and a white glare bounces off the tiled walls. The flock of birds looks completely out of place between the sinks and bathroom stalls.

The day before Andrew hit, Magill was nailing plywood over the windows at his house. He was also feeding rhinoceroses and rounding up a couple dozen flamingos.

“I remember thinking, gosh, you know, this hurricane better come after this work because I’m working my butt off and it better not be for nothing,” Magill said.

The staff at Metrozoo waited till the very last minute to move the flamingos. It’s a stressful process for the birds. They can easily break a leg. So, the staff wanted to be as certain as possible that the storm was going to hit.

Around 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, Ron and a group of his co-workers climbed into the flamingo pond by the zoo’s entrance. They formed a half circle and started advancing on the flamingos.

“That’s when all of the sudden we go: OK, one, two go!” Magill said. “And everybody goes in and just grabs as many flamingos as they can.

“And then we’re handing them up – we’ve got people on the bridge — handing them one by one, and they’re walking them to the bathroom, letting them go in the bathroom, coming back, getting more. A person literally hand walks him, holds him up to his chest, hand walks to the bathroom, opens the bathroom door, lets ‘em go.... It’s the first flamingo that gets in the bathroom that’s kind of freaked out. Oh my God I’m the only one here! It’s just a lot of flapping — and flamingos make a very unattractive sound, RAWG RAWG RAWG…”

After all the flamingos were in the bathroom, Ron looked back and saw a tangled mass of long pink bird legs and necks wedged between the sinks and bathroom stalls.

“Twenty to 30 flamingos just standing there. And they’re all in the corner, hovering in the corner, just kind of looking at you,” Magill said, “and looking at their own reflection in the mirror on the wall over the sink. And you look at their faces and they’re kind of like, what the heck is this?”

The zoo had put the flamingos in the bathroom before, during previous hurricane warnings. But this time, Ron had a camera. He had taken up photography because his research was getting published and he needed photos.

On his days off, Ron would shadow Miami Herald photographers.

“I learned from the guys at the Herald that listen, in journalism, you want to capture a moment, you want to have something that will instill some kind of emotion. And for that reason, I always had a point and shoot camera in my pocket. Always.”

So Magill pulled out his camera.

“I didn’t even look through the view finder,” he said.

And he snapped a shot. The shot, as it would turn out. He had no idea that photo would become an iconic image.

Then, Magill went home to his wife, who was nine months pregnant, in West Kendall . He rode out the storm that would ultimately redefine his community and the zoo he loved.
Read more about Hurricane Andrew Here
WLRN Radio Interview with Ron Magill