Susan Meiselas Muchachos await the counterattack by the National Guard, Matagalpa, Nicaragua, 1978 ©Susan Meiselas/ Magnum Photos

This photo “Muchachos await the counterattack by the National Guard” is taken from the the series “Nicaragua” 1978-1979 which is part of the project “Latin America (1978-2003)”, originally published in 1981 by Susan Meiselas. The photographer arrived in Nicaragua just before the insurrection in June 1978 and returned there ten years later. S.Meiselas’ aim was to shoot the revolution with colour photography which is, to her mind, a strong testimony. Susan Meiselas is not a war photographer, her purpose was to record how things come about. Indeed, her images trace the evolution of the popular resistance that led to the insurrection. And she felt a strange experience because everybody was waiting for something that they were going to do. This coloured photo represents Muchachos awaiting the counterattack by the National Guard behind sandbag defences. “Muchachos” means boys Spanish, they are part of the people leading the revolution. S. Meiselas’ photography is a connexion to the world, a medium beyond the image.

To begin with, the photo was taken in a street in Nicaragua during the Sandinista Revolution. The foreground is a wall of sandbags which cuts the limit between the photographer and the people. We can suppose that these sandbags were used for exportation as we can guess with “ALEMANA” written on the sandbag on the left side.

In the middle, there is a wood stick against the wall, it may be a residue of their weapons.

And this little detail shows the arming imbalance between the people and the government.

On the right side, there is a rifle with telescopic sight on the top of a sandbag.

Seven men in sweat are photographed but one, just the arm. What is relevant is that they are not well-armed: they are not wearing the uniform - they’re civils-, none of them wear a bulletproof vest, they protect their respiratory system with a scarf and there are only three guns. The three/four of them crouched down are looking in the same direction awaiting the counterattack by the National Guard. In the background, three muchachos are standing against the tagged wall; the one in the middle doesn’t look at the same direction than his peers, he seems confident about the outcome of this battle. The one on the left side holding a gun is the only one looking at the camera, he has covered his face with the Sandinista flag. On the blue gate on the left side, “G.P.P.” which means Guerra Popular Prolongada – Prolonged Popular War- is tagged, a strategy of the FSLN – Sandinista National Liberation Front- that recruited urban mobilization.

This is exactly what Meiselas wanted to report through photography because she shot the harsh reality of the conflict. These muchachos are ready for the counterattack, they are not disturbed by Meiselas’s presence and fight for their rights risking their lives. What we don’t know is that the photographer probably had a bulletproof vest with “PRESS” written on it and was immunized. We know that Meiselas was in the conflict, physically speaking but she had a camera whereas people around her had guns. Her photographing this scene bears witness to the public opinion, given that she is American. Indeed, this photo became iconic and thanks to her coloured photography, the conflict was seen from a different angle. Indeed, coloured

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