Carbonero, Village near Manzanillo, Cuba, 2016

In this image a man rakes a pile of burnt wood searching for pieces of charcoal, as this is his livelihood. He steps in the middle of incredible heat just to collect enough to support his family. In spite of his difficult life, he embraced our presence and smiled constantly during our visit.

We met him because he was a husband to our new connection in the village. When we drove 12 hours to Manzanillo to photograph a single girl, we never expected to have such access to rural Cuba. Our friends in the city told us about a few villages less than an hour away, and wanted to take us there. We of course accepted and headed to the unknown.

The villages were incredible, as we were made to feel like family. In the morning we photographed our young friend in the city, and for the afternoons we drove out to the villages. We arrived mid-afternoon and walked around making photographs in the fashion of street documentation. It was so liberating to be able to walk around with such freedom, and to make photographs just by speaking with people along the way.

All of the homes were so beautiful, and the families were almost as curious as we were. This reminded me of my first few years in Havana, when the curiosity was mutual. Now of course the capital has changed tremendously, and over the past few years I have been more and more drawn to the countryside.

Next summer we plan to spend at least half of our time in the countryside, both just around the capital and much further out. The anticipation is already palpable, and will certainly increase when the film from this past summer returns processed in a month or so.

Website

Tumblr

Twitter

Facebook
Instagram

Note: This image was made with a Sony RX100M3.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Carbonero, Pueblo cerca de Manzanillo, Cuba, 2016

En esta imagen, un hombre rastrilla una pila de madera quemada en busca de trozos de carbón, ya que este es su medio de vida. Da un paso en medio del calor increíble sólo para recoger lo suficiente para mantener a su familia. A pesar de su vida difícil, abrazó nuestra presencia y sonrió constantemente durante nuestra visita.

Nos encontramos con él porque era un marido de nuestra nueva conexión en el pueblo. Cuando conducimos 12 horas a Manzanillo para fotografiar una chica sola, nunca espera que tenga dicho acceso a la Cuba rural. Nuestros amigos en la ciudad nos hablaron de algunos pueblos de menos de una hora de distancia, y querían llevarnos allí. Nosotros, por supuesto, aceptamos y nos dirigimos a lo desconocido.

Los pueblos eran increíbles, ya que nos hicieron sentir como en familia. Por la mañana fotografiamos nuestra joven amiga en la ciudad, y por las tardes nos condujo a los pueblos. Llegamos a media tarde y caminamos en torno a hacer fotografías de la forma de la documentación de la calle. Fue tan liberador para poder caminar con tanta libertad, y para hacer fotografías con sólo hablar con la gente en el camino.

Todas las casas estaban tan hermosa, y las familias eran casi tan curiosos como nosotros. Esto me recordó mis primeros años en La Habana, cuando la curiosidad era mutuo. Ahora, por supuesto, la capital ha cambiado enormemente, y en los últimos años he estado cada vez más atraído por el campo.

El próximo verano tenemos la intención de pasar por lo menos la mitad de nuestro tiempo en el campo, tanto a la vuelta de la capital y mucho más lejos. La anticipación es ya palpable, y sin duda aumentará cuando la película de este verano se procesa en un mes más o menos.

Laborers, Charcoal Farm, Matanzas, Cuba, Summer of 2014

One early morning we arrived to collect a family for photography and found the lights still out, triggering the sound of worry from Alejandro. He just knew that they were still asleep and that the sun would be coming out soon. He picked up the phone and dialed their number, resulting in a sleepy mother apologizing for the miscommunication.

He then looked at me and asked: what now?

Perhaps he was thinking that we'd just drive around town a bit then head to lunch early. I looked at Alejandro and asked if we could drive to Matanzas for the day, looking for individuals along the way. He was surprised at first, and slowly agreed to the plan.

So we started our way out of the city and almost immediately began to find individuals as the sun appeared over the horizon. First it was a farmer walking down the highway, allowing us to photograph him for ten or so minutes. Then Alejandro's eyes caught glimpse of a charcoal farm to our left and pulled right in. We saw these men sitting in front of a shack and asked their permission to photograph the space.

I stepped out and began making pictures of the mountains of charcoal, then the mountains of wood piled up so neatly. The men were taking a break from the work when we arrived, so we talked a bit. As was my plan, I appeared like the hapless tourist making images of the surroundings that then finds interest in the workers themselves. It seemed to work and they then allowed me to make abstract images of them, from below and with them holding various tools from the shed. Every time an individual was in front of the lens, the others poked gentle fun at him… it was truly a fun time.

This image was made with the digital camera as we packed up our bags, thinking that they would like a memory of our time together. Alejandro more than likely delivered the pictures to them this past week, and I hope that they enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Note: This image was made with a Sony RX100M2 with available light.

www.halimina.org