Havana's Chinatown | Lok Pok-chi

Photo © Lok Pok-chi - All Rights Reserved

I make it a daily habit to read the South China Morning Post, and was very interested in an article that appeared on its pages a few days ago. It tells us the story of Lok Pok-chi, a photographer born in Hong Kong and based in Kansas, who accidentally met Caridad Amaran, a 90-year old talented singer of Chinese opera in Havana.

When they met, she scrubbing oil off a Chinese printing press with a kerosene-soaked toothbrush. Ms. Amaran has been performing since childhood, and is still an active singer. She is one of the subjects featured in photographer Lau Pok-chi’s latest solo exhibition, “Chinese Diaspora”. I couldn't find a link to it, but I did locate a short video featuring Lok Pok-chi and her, (starting at 07:35) amongst other images of Havana.



For more on Lok Pok-chi, here's a link to his website.

Luis Alarcón | The Last Dragons

Photo © Luis Alarcón - All Rights Reserved

I've become much more selective in terms of what appears of The Travel Photographer blog, and only post photography work that I personally would've loved to do myself, or have done (or doing). The work of Luis Alarcón falls very neatly in the first category, and I nod in appreciation to Photography of China for having brought his work to my eyes.

Alarcón's calls his latest work "Yellow", Last Chinese in Cuba, or perhaps more poetically, The Last Dragons (a title I much prefer). This excellent work is part of a larger visual anthropological project about the four main races that constitute the Cuban people's identity by documenting their current lifestyle and culture. 

Cubans largely originate from American Indians (which Alarcón labels as Red), Spanish conquistadores (White), Africans (Black) and Chinese immigrants (Yellow).

Having visited Havana in the late nineties, I had totally forgotten it had a Chinese presence, and was reminded of the fact when in Hong Kong last month and the subject was brought up by a fellow photographer who had recently been to Cuba.

The Last Dragons project focuses on the reduced Chinese community still existent in Cuba today, and documents some of their memories, surroundings and the few places they congregate in. Alarcón tells us this is a long term project in which he seeks to find and photograph all the China-born Chinese who live in Cuba, as part of the diaspora of the Chinese people.

Luis Alarcon is a documentary photographer, writer and travel designer based in Havana. He is an expert on the history of Cuba, and specialized in anthropology, genetics, migrations and miscegenation among the different ethnic groups that populate the island.

Dom & Liam Shaw | Vida Cubana | Fuji X Pro 2

© Dom & Liam Shaw- All Rights Reserved 

My Twitter feed is not entirely useless after all!

It brought me to a blog post by two Yorkshire-based wedding photographers who, after a street photography stint in New York City, continued their adventures to include 15 days shooting during the Easter break in the streets of Havana (and Trinidad).

Not only are the super-saturated photographs of Havana just a joy to view, but they were made with the newly released Fuji X Pro-2.

There are a number of world cities that are especially spectacular for  street photography; New York City, Kolkata, Hanoi and many others...but in my view, Havana is probably ranked amongst the top five, and these photographs certainly support my contention.

I was in Havana in 2000 (during the Elian Gonzales controversy) attending a photography workshop with Costa Manos, and it was a revelation. I was a photo novice at the time, but I immediately realized the incredible magnetic pull this city had to photographers.

To accompany this post, I chose one of the couple's photograph featuring Wilke (or Wilki), a well-known 'Habanero' to visiting photographers. He earns a living by dancing in various bars and by posing as a model on account of his elegance, white sideburns and enormous cigars. His dancing partner, Adelaide, is also a fortune teller. I met them during my week-long stay in Havana, and they introduced me to a private session of Santeria.

Traveling to Cuba for US citizens has become much easier recently, however Cuba's infrastructure hasn't yet caught up with the influx of tourists coming from its northern neighbor. Lack of hotel rooms, exacerbated by underdeveloped airport facilities, results in frustrated travelers.

As many things in life, I guess it's a trade-off. 

Marylise Vigneau | Havana | About Time 1 & 2

Photo © Marylise Vigneau-All Rights Reserved

"In Havana, time is an unavoidable character. Destructive or facetious, sardonic or nostalgic, political or imaginary, irreverent in any case, time sprawls its texture and shadow all over the city." -Marylise Vigneau

It's absolutely 'about time'... Cuba's embargo by the United States has been in place since 1960, and the restoration of its full diplomatic relations and the opening of our embassy in Havana only occurred very recently.

Marylise Vigneau's work returns to the pages of this blog with her updated Havana galleries, which she has titled About Time I  (color) and About Time II (monochrome).

I envy her her photographic style, which -to me- defies an easy characterization. Is it street photography, urban photography, environmental portraiture? I end up deciding to make it easier to myself,, and accepting it's a mix of many styles and that it represents a multi-faceted eye that defies pigeon holing, and categorization.

What better photograph represents Havana's exhaustion and faded grandeur than the aging woman in her gilded bed, reading a local newspaper (news? gossip column?) with a knowing smile on her lips? Or its poverty and its famous 'can-do' attitude of its people than the decrepit legless armchair resting on cinder blocks, and a Mother's Day kitschy graffiti on the wall?

Photo © Marylise Vigneau-All Rights Reserved

These are Marylise's glimpses of Havana...one of the best cities in the world for street photography, and where my fondness for this style was probably born more almost 14 years ago. Life in Havana happens outside of its dilapidated buildings, and I don't have to tell my readers that its people are incredibly photogenic; the mix of African, Carib Indian, and European has created a melting pot of handsome people, endowed with wonderful hospitality, remarkable musical talent and exuberance.

Marylise Vigneau is a French photographer who traveled to and lived in a number of countries as her galleries attest. These include work from Cambodia to Uzbekistan, from Mongolia to Myanmar, from China to Sarajevo including powerful and compelling images made at a mental hospital in Lahore.

Her work has been shown in Angkor Photo Festival, Foto Istanbul, Yangon Photo Festival, Nairang Gallery in Lahore and Focus Photography Festival in Mumbai. It has also been published in Pix Quarterly (India), Asia Life and Milk (Cambodia). She is also an alum of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (Sarajevo).

Marylise Vigneau | Havana I & II

Photo © Marylise Vigneau-All Rights Reserved

"I do not pretend, I don’t explain. Those who look at my photographs can invent their own story. I pass by, ask questions, wonder at things. And the little click of the shutter is no more than a reverence. And that is all that really matters." --Marylise Vigneau

Havana! Amongst the best cities in the world for street photography, and where my fondness for this style was born more almost 14 years ago. Life in Havana happens outside of its dilapidated buildings, and I don't have to tell my readers that its people are incredibly photogenic;  the mix of African, Carib Indian, and European has created a melting pot of handsome people, endowed with wonderful hospitality, remarkable musical talent and exuberance.

So it was with great pleasure that I saw that Marylise Vigneau uploaded photographs of Havana on her website. In fact, there are two galleries; Havana I (color photographs) and Havana II (monochrome photographs which competed for my attention...and I decided to show both in this post.

Photo © Marylise Vigneau-All Rights Reserved

I honestly don't know which I prefer from these two; the young man showing off his biceps to the photographer while around the corner, another man and his dog are unaware of this unfolding story...or the monochrome photograph of three young girls making dance moves in a street.

Marylise Vigneau is a French photographer and has traveled quite extensively, as her galleries attest. These include work from Cambodia to Uzbekistan, from Mongolia to Myanmar, from China to Sarajevo including powerful and compelling images made at a mental hospital in Lahore.

In an interview she tells us "I walk and wait to be surprised, intrigued, moved or amused." Perhaps she does that...but her work transcends this simple philosophy.

Dede Pickering | Cuba

Photo © Dede Pickering-All Rights Reserved

Dede Pickering has been super busy for the past six months, having traveled to India, Cuba, Colombia, and Iceland. Having retired from the corporate world, she became a photographer, and traveled to Antarctica, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, China, Cambodia, Peru, Patagonia, Kosovo, Albania, Rwanda, New Zealand, Guatemala, Cuba, South East Asia and has made multiple trips to Africa and India.

She recently updated her website with galleries of these travels, and I chose to feature one of Cuba 2013. Influenced by the work by travel photographer Nevada Weir and others, she is a member of the Explorers Club in New York

In 1998 Dede took on a full-time volunteer position with CARE, a global private humanitarian organization, to start the Women's Initiative, aimed at connecting American women professionals with women in the developing world. She served as chair of the Women's Initiative until 2004. Under her leadership the small group of volunteers raised awareness and a minimum of $150,000 annually to benefit poor women and their families. Dede was also a CARE Trustee and a member of the advisory committee for CARE's Campaign for Education.

Eric Kruszewski: Cuba

Photo © Eric Kruszewski-All Rights Reserved

Eric Kruszewski's Cuba gallery made me yearn to revisit Cuba having been there on a week's photo workshop over 10 years ago.

It's heaven for street photographers...Just look at the photograph above, and see how he compartmentalized the scene using the columns and the scaffoldings. You'll see others in the gallery, including nicely composed scenes of youngsters playing street baseball.

An engineering vocation took Eric to perform construction assessments in in former Soviet Union countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia. It was there that he started to pick a camera to share what he saw and experienced. In mid-2010, he returned to the USA to evolve his craft, develop personal projects, and discover opportunities to share stories with a larger audience. He began pursuing photography full-time earlier this year.

Don't miss Eric's poignant documentary movie on Courtney Gilmour, whose birth defects are consistent with exposure to pollutants during her mother's pregnancy.

Aujin Rew: Cuba

Photo © Aujin Rew-All Rights Reserved

Born and raised in South Korea, Aujin Rew is a freelance photographer based in Singapore. Having studied engineering at Stanford University, she had recently undertaken long travels in South and Central America.

Whilst there are quite a number of galleries on her website, I chose to feature Aujin's work in Havana in which she makes a lovely use of the city's light. Don't miss her lovely photograph (fifth in the series) of a street scene in Havana...a scene with a number of protagonists frozen as if in suspended animation. To my mind, this photograph encapsulates all the ingredients of a successful street photograph in the real sense of the word.

I met Aujin at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires, where she attended a class by the legendary Ron Haviv.

Alex Webb/Rebecca Webb: Violet Isle

Few people interested in photography don't know who Alex Webb is, so I'll keep this introduction brief.

He began working as a professional photojournalist in 1974, and joined Magnum Photos as an associate member in 1976, and a full member in 1979. He photographed extensively in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and in Turkey. His photographs have appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, Life, Geo, Stern, and National Geographic, and has published many books.

Rebecca Norris-Webb is an international photographer and poet.

Violet Isle is featured by Magnum In Motion, and showcases Alex’s exploration of the streets of Cuba and Rebecca’s discovery of unique and sometimes mysterious animals. While the photography styles of this husband-wife team is distinctly different, they decided decided to weave their images together to create a multi-layered portrait Cuba.

While you watch the audio slideshow, you'll see this combination of the two styles...the typical street scenes, color saturated with lots of shadows, reflections, sun-drenched walls...and more ethereally, many caged birds, a metaphor for Cubans. The soulful soundtrack is Silencio by the Buena Vista Social Club.

Would I have preferred to hear a soundtrack of ambient audio and music recorded in the streets of Havana instead? Yes, of course...no question about it. That being said, anything by the Buena Vista Social Club is great.

Jeffry Plomley: Havana

Photo © Jeffry Plomley-All Rights Reserved

I caught Jeffry Plomley's work on The Leica Camera Blog, and was immediately drawn to his Havana gallery, which features excellent street scenes that are very nicely toned. A Canadian photographer, he has the ability of traveling to Cuba as freely as he wishes; something that we here in The United States cannot do as freely.

Jeffry tells us in the Leica Camera Blog that he considers Havana to be one of the world’s meccas for street photography. This is not an exaggerated statement, but one that I wholeheartedly endorse since I visited the island and its capital (legally) in 2000. In the first part of Jeffry's post, he also describes his choice of gear, packing two M9s and two M7s, with 21mm Elmarit Aspherical, 28mm Summicron Aspherical, 35mm Summicron Aspherical, 50mm Summicron, and the 75mm Summicron Aspherical. Phew!

There's also a wonderful gallery of Cuban boxing action, which I recall was a huge attraction to the photographers who were attending the workshop I enrolled in.

I suggest you choose the slideshow option, but watch it in full screen. Don't miss the one (#13) of an elderly Cuban patting a dog...grest shot!

Sam Chadwick: Cuba & More

Photo © Sam Chadwick-All Rights Reserved

Sam Chadwick is a travel photographer and a Hell's Kitchen (NYC) resident where he works on a variety of photographic projects and planning his next photographic travels.

He started photography as a main means of documenting his 5-day ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. Since then, he traveled to over 50 countries, creating a large collection of images of people, cultures and environments. In 2007, he reached the semi-finals of the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and his images have appeared on Reuters.

You can see his many galleries on his website, from Guatemala, Belize, Nepal, Costa Rica, East Africa and my favorite Cuba.

Jan Sochor: The Palo In Cuba

Photo © Jan Sochor -All Rights Reserved
Jan Sochor is a freelance photographer, working between South America and Europe. He lived and worked in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain and the Czech Republic during the past five years. His photographs and stories have appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers and websites, including Sunday Times, National Geographic, Reuters, Burn magazine, Foto8, 100Eyes, UNESCO, Boston Review, PDN online,and others.

In this 3 minutes audio-slideshow, Jan has now focused his lenses on the adherents of the Palo religion, also known as Las Reglas de Congo. Palo is a syncretic religion which developed in Cuba amongst Central African slaves. Due to forced evangelicalism, Palo adherents gave their deities names from the Christian faith to continue their spiritual tradition.

Palo's main tenets are the veneration of ancestors' spirits, and belief in natural powers. The Palo pantheon starts at the creator god, Nzambi.

Highly recommended viewing for those of us who document, and are interested in, global spiritual traditions.

Robert Caplin: Cuban Life

© 2009 Robert Caplin-All Rights Reserved
I came across Robert Caplin's work through a recent interview published in The New York Times' Frugal Traveler. Moving from this interview to his website, I immediately saw that much of his work was typically that of a quintessential travel photographer.

Caplin started out in Athens, Ohio, with a Nikon N50 film camera, but subsequently moved over to Canon, currently crams his expensive gear into a cheap bag and is enamored of one of the least sophisticated cameras on the market today: the iPhone.

He is also a full-time freelance editorial, corporate and portrait photographer based in New York City, and works regularly with The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News, and has also been published in the National Geographic.

It's been a while that this blog hasn't seen work from Cuba, and Caplin's lovely work on Cuban Life fills this gap. Drop by and it will transport you to the streets of Havana. If only there was an audio track of Cuban Son!!!

Landon Nordeman: The Sugar Train (Cuba)

The Atlantic magazine recently featured this slideshow (they call it video) of photographs by Landon Nordeman during a train journey in Cuba.

It's accompanied by an evocatively written article by Michael Scott Moore titled The 12:39 To Matanzas, which I enjoyed. However, I can't say the same of the slideshow. Clearly cobbled together by someone with an inordinate affection for panning and camera movements, I don't think I've seen a single frame in the slideshow (or video) that doesn't have the annoying pan from one side to the other, or going from one direction to the other, without a real reason for the movement.

I always start off my multimedia classes and workshops by telling participants to keep their projects simple, and to use effects sparingly, and only when it's absolutely required to underscore a visual point. In fact, I'll use this slideshow to demonstrate to my future classes what not to do. As to the use of a sound track from a Buena Vista Club album, ambient sound recorded in the train, peoples' voices, perhaps an impromptu song by a passenger...would have helped turn this feature around. Heck, what about the guy with the accordion in the train?

Washington Post: Travel Photo Contest 2007

Image Copyright © Eleanor Kaufman-All Rights Reserved
The results of the Washington Post's Travel Photo contest was published on its website, and features about a dozen interesting photographs submitted by its readers and others. I liked the one of a fedora-topped man, riding a bicycle in Baracoa, Cuba. The orange background accentuates the man's image and emanates warmth. I also like the angle...some may view it as an uncomfortable viewpoint, but I think the unusual angle adds a lot to the photograph.

The photograph was made by Eleanor Kaufman of Washington.

The Washington Post's Travel Photo Contest 2007. Registration may be required.

LA Times: A Step Back In Time, Cuba

Gail Fisher for The Los Angeles Times-All Rights Reserved
Here's another multimedia feature from The Los Angeles Times. This one is on Cuba, and the photographs and narration are by Gail Fisher, who's the Senior Photo Editor for the newspaper.

Gail has spent the past twenty years of her career traveling extensively throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South and Central America covering social issues, and has won numerous awards.

I expected much more from such a renowned photographer/editor, but the feature verges on a 'ho-hum' collection of photographs of Cuba that any photographer without Gail's experience and access could have easily captured. A few photographs stand out (like the one above), but the large majority are pedestrian. Although Cuba receives over 2,000,000 tourists a year, only 40,000 are from the United States and are generally not tourists but journalists and human rights staff, so who is the target of this consumer-oriented travel feature...our Canadian neighbors?

As Gail says, Cuba has a legendary mystique which makes it a great tourist destination. Yes, we know and most of us want to go! As I wrote in an earlier post, how can anyone justify political isolation, impose economic sanctions and literally prevent its citizens to visit this enchanting island because of trumped up political ideology is beyond comprehension.

Here's Gail Fisher's A Step Back In Time, Cuba

Beyond The Frame: El Fotografo Habanero

El Fotografo Habanero- Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy
A few years ago, I experienced the pleasure of spending almost two weeks in Old Havana (or La Habana Vieja, as the locals call it) for a workshop designed to improve my then non-existing skills in street photography. The workshop was taught by the Magnum legend, Costas Manos, who immediately made me realize that a travel photographer does not necessarily make a street photographer.

Setting this possible truism aside, I haunted the streets of Old Havana and photographed virtually anything that fit, to my eyes at least, the street photography parameters that were given to me by Costas. Naturally, to find a scene in which the protagonists did not look at me (one of Costas strict directives) was somewhat difficult in Old Havana, where it's hard for tourists for blend in.

Notwithstanding, I persevered and got to a point where I generated acceptable street photography results. This one (though not a 'street' photograph) of the Habanero photographer was taken near the steps of the Gran Teatro de la Habana. The fellow had a tidy little business going, photographimg tourists with his antique pin-hole camera, dropping the 4 x 3 negatives in a bucket-full of some sort of unusual developer solution. He went along his business with a cigarette dangling from his lips, and a world-weary look on his face. I tried to engage him in my uneven Spanish, but he was wasn't interested in small talk. All he cared about was the $2 he charged me. I hope he's still there...fussing about with his camera and bucket.

I toned the image to approximate the vintage photographs which I saw in the windows of portrait photographers in Havana.

Lorenzo Moscia: Havana

Image Copyright © Lorenzo Moscia
Lorenzo Moscia is an Italian photographer living in Santiago de Chile. His flash-based website is a trove of amazing photographs from various countries such as Cuba, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and even Zanzibar.

I recommend his galleries of Havana (his website has two of those) to readers of TTP. Although one may think that Havana has been overdone from a photographic standpoint, Lorenzo's images reflect the naked reality of how Habaneros live their lives in their wonderful city, despite the hardships, the dearth of necessities, and difficulties. His use of color, composition, the personality of his subjects, choice of the 'decisive' moment, all contribute to masterful work.

As I said, there are two galleries for Havana on Lorenzo's website...one is older than the other, and both have images that are breathtaking. For example, in the 'older' Havana gallery, my very favorite is image #003 of a man plopped on a mattress...a mattress supported by a pile of bricks. He's presumably watching television (unseen in the photograph), but an antique small electric fan is blowing air in his face.

And how about the one above this post; a woman cleaning a plateful of uncooked rice, watched by a child? How well this image tells the story! Personally, this image resonates. While growing up, I watched our family's cook do exactly the same thing.

Having visited Havana for a photography workshop, I can attest to the Cubans' spirit, creativity, generosity and kindness. How can anyone justify political isolation and impose economic sanctions on their own kin (or on anyone, for that matter) is beyond comprehension.

My hat is off to Lorenzo for his talents and sensitivity.

Lorenzo Moscia's website

David Alan Harvey: Havana

Image Copyright David Alan Harvey/Magnum
David Alan Harvey is a legend among photojournalists. Here's what Dirck Halstead, of the Digital Journalist says about him: "David is a photojournalist's photojournalist. His work is in the tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson and W. Eugene Smith. He never uses a press card or long lens. He never stands behind ropes at a "photo op." He tends to use a single Leica body with either a 35mm or 50mm lens. He has the eye of painter and the soul of a poet. He is the kind of photographer I would like to be."

For the past 15 years, David has assembled an incredible body of work on Hispanic culture. Sponsored by his agency, Magnum Photos, and National Geographic, he has documented the Mayan culture, the trail of the conquistadors, Chile, Honduras, Belize and Spain. He developed a love affair with Cuba. In his words, it was "a love mixed with frustration, fear, passion, and paranoia...I was drawn to the ballet of street photography. I hung out with Cubans, listened to their music, drank with them, danced and ate with them. I visited schools and science labs. I rode buses, lived with the families, went to church, and in general, soaked it all up. I lived it, felt it, and photographed it."

His images are full of life and vivacity...and the gallery has Real Audio snippets with David's commentary. By the way, his 17th image on the gallery is of Adelaide and Wilki...these two photogenic Cubans were fixtures in Old Havana, dancing exuberantly for tourists and photographers. I met them in Havana in 2000 and have photographs of them...one of which is on my Havana gallery (a gallery which is in dire need of being reworked on).

David Alan Harvey's gallery on Cuba, and above excerpts come courtesy of the Digital Journalist. It's been a while that this gallery has been published...and it shows. I would freshen it up by converting it into a Flash slideshow, perhaps adding a pulsating Ibrahim Ferrer track to the Havana images, and traditional son with the rest. Along with David's narrative, it'd be wonderful. Notwithstanding, the images are timeless.

David Alan Harvey's Cuban Soul

I haven't met David, but through his recently published blog, I can tell that he's indeed one of a kind. His desire to help young emerging photographers and his generosity stand out in an industry that is frequently selfish and egoistical. My hat's off to David Alan Harvey.

David Alan Harvey's Blog

The Jews of Cuba

The Travel section of this week's New York Times carries a short slideshow on the Jewish community in Havana. It's a far cry from the bustling community of pre-Castro's era, but the small number of the remaining Cuban Jews keep their traditions and culture alive. The photographs are by Sven Creutzmann, a Polaris photographer.

I visited Havana for an accredited street photography workshop in 2000, and recall the Jewish synagogue in Havana Vieja, which was unfortunately closed at the time of day I visited. Havana and its wonderful people offer such a wealth of photographic opportunities, and I am impatient to be able to revisit (legally) the island. It's an absolute outrage that US citizens are restricted from legally visiting Cuba, and seeing the number of potential British tourists swarming all over the stall of the Cuban Tourism Board at yesterday's Travel Show was really galling.

Here's New York Times':
The Jews of Cuba