Molotov Man

Who is Molotov Man?

He is Pablo Arauz aka "Bareta" a family man identifying him self as a Sandinsta. His picture was original taken by Famous photographer Susan Meiselas in Nicaragua on July 16, 1979 during the opposition of the Somoza regime which began in the early sixties. He is shown throwing a  bomb at the Somoza national guard. it was a very important day for them because  they ended up winning and gained control  and power for another decade. This image initatlly represented  that great day in history for them but then years later the context was changed. Like the image of Che Guevara it started appearing every where on everything as a universal image of a revolution. It was as well taken out of context by painter Joy Garnett. 
She did a project on riot painting en showing people in extremis. She looked for photoraphes that would work for her and didn't care about the context or who it belonged to. this Riot series gave Molotov man a new context because indeed this image has nothing to do with a riot. it resemble a revolution.