Imaginings of a New Day in Cuba
Cuba is an island less than a hundred miles off our shores, but beyond reach to most American visitors. Fifty years after immigrating to the United States with my family, my yearning to visit the land of my birth was finally fulfilled. Although I have no memory of my first two years as a child in Havana, upon my return, I sensed a bond to the people and places that are my heritage.
Walking through the streets of "La Habana Vieja" amid the ruins of what once were stately colonial buildings, driving down "El Malecón" along the bay that skirts the city or strolling through "El Vedado" simply observing ordinary Cubans in their daily lives, I was struck by the jarring incongruity between the place and the people. The crumbling historic structures, collapsing grand hotels and boulevards - evidence of the magnificent and vital city Havana once was - serve only as a backdrop to the true soul of the city. Undeterred by their weary surroundings, the Cuban people are well-dressed, smiling and ready to offer each other a helping hand. Their vibrant culture, their unbroken spirit and the sense of pride that defines all Cubans shone past the broken infrastructure, filling my heart with hope.
Inspired by the resilience of the Cuban people, both those who immigrated to the United States suffering separation from their families and homeland and those who presently inhabit the island, I have begun work on a new portfolio. "Orgullo" (pride) is a work in progress that seeks to meld images of my family in early 1900's Cuba with images of present day Cuba. Phase 1 - Present Day Cuba - is exhibited in this portfolio.
