Friday, January 27, 2017

Young Girl + House, Crimea, Cuba, 2015


This small village is quite special to me ever since we made a turn from the highway three years ago. We were on our way back from the countryside and spotted nothing on the highway itself. Then my instinct told me to ask Alejandro to make that turn, and everything followed from that fortunate chance.

We made a photograph of a farmer next to his cart, and then purchased some avocado and bananas. He was a gentle man, and invited us to drive to his village a mile or so up the road. Following his lead is what led us to this row of houses.

While we were there to photograph some of the younger residents, this young woman caught our attention one afternoon. She was a cousin to some of the girls, and was only visiting for the summer from the east. This it seemed was our only chance to make her portrait so we asked. She was very shy in the beginning, even though she watched the entire time and seemed very content with the photography of her friends and cousins.

So we asked again, and with the cajoling of her friends she stepped in front of the lens. First we photographed her with her hair up, then she let her hair down for this portrait. She was a natural in front of the camera, truly magnificent.

I hope to visit her village this year of course, and hand her this portrait.


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Note: This image was made with a Hasselblad 555 ELD/100 mm combination.

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