The Princess and I, Countryside, Cuba, Summer of 2015

One incredible facet of this island is the ability to make portraits of ballerinas on the beach in the morning and environmental images of the people in the countryside later on in the afternoon, with a homemade meal in between. It is such a magical place, and filled with genuine understanding of the work.

How would any of us receive a stranger and a Cuban driver walking up to us in our own homes asking to photograph our children? Would we have this conversation with someone right smack in the middle of our workday? Would we make the time to engage the strangers for a half an hour, to listen to their request and then to oblige resulting in portraits made that very afternoon?

This is what happened in this hamlet, after spotting a young girl with the most incredibly green eyes on the road. We were directed to a man inside to have that conversation, and were granted permission to photograph all of the children that same afternoon.

This image was made on our second visit, as they had invited us to document a performance held in our honor, yes, in our honor! Here they were, offering themselves to us photographically, yet going out of their way to put on a most beautiful performance complete with loudspeakers, costumes and staged acts.

Here I kneel next to one of the young girls, after all of the activities were finished. Our smiles say it all I believe.

Website

Tumblr

Twitter

Note: This image was made with a Sony RX100M2.