Havana - September 12, 2010

Meetings and Presentations at Fototeca, in Havana

Fototeca de Cuba is a hub for professional photographers in Havana. Today we met with several well-known and talented Cuban photographers, and were able to see their original prints, as well as presentations given by these photographers, including:

Raül Cañibano (Ercilla)
- Documentary photographer; showed black and white prints
- "Tierra Guajira" series - explores life in countryside; other series include "Habana" and "El Rincon" (the corner)
- He will probably move to digital, but hasn't yet.
- His work recently appeared in N.Y. Times ("In the Heart and Soul of Cuba" by Adriana Teresa - June 4, 2010)

Eduardo J. Garcia (Garcia*)
- Digital artist
- Photojournalist style
- He's interested in the inner life of Cubans, realities of life
- *Eduardo works with his twin brother (Orlando Garcia)


Arien Chang Castan (aka Chang)
- Documentary photographer
- Black and white prints
- Has photographed older people (over 100 yrs. old)

Leysis Casada (Vera)
- Started in documentary photography
- Pictures of her daughter; and nuns
- Digital collage shots - women's faces melded with textured walls, other images


Jose Victor Gavilondo 
- Son of Jorge Gavilondo, scientist and photographer
- Jorge also was there (showed us his work earlier)
- Jose showed some extreme close-ups, water frozen in mid-air, other studies
- Jose's photo "There is no blackout..." (shown at right)


Ludmila Velasco and Nelson Ramírez de Arellano
- A husband and wife team
- "Absolut Revolution" series (2002 - 2004)
- Also known for hotels in Havana series
- Nelson is shown with Ron Herman and Jesus (our guide and translator), at right.

Mario Diaz
- Showed black and white prints on table
- Gave a presentation on earlier black and white works, plus some color
- Was friends with Korda (who took famous picture of Che); Diaz took a picture of Korda holding his Che photo.
- Shown with Ron Herman (both wearing hats) at right, below.

Perfecto Romero
- We also were able to visit with Perfecto Romero, who brought some of his black and white prints with him.
- Romero was assigned to cover Che Guevara, and took several famous pictures of Che and others around the time of the revolution.
- Romero is pictured at right, with members of our group.