shadow boxing
The sweat-covered boxer from this post is the man on the left, giving it his all in full Cuban sun.
The men would pair up, sparring until the coach said, in a calm deep voice, “Tiempo.” They’d rest a few minutes, wipe their faces, drink some water*. And when the coach again announced, “Tiempo.” they’d start back up until the next announcement.
Gimnasia do Boxeo Rafael Trejo
Havana, Cuba
photographed 11.11.2022
*And if we were there, put up with a swarm of photographers intent on getting a Very Important Portrait of Very Sweaty Boxer.
Che is still watching
Revolutionary leader Che Guevarra is still watching what goes on in Havana. I mean, he was executed in Bolivia in 1969, but still.
And also, while Che was keeping watch inside this building, that gentleman in the helmet was definitely keeping an eye out for what I might do next.
Havana, Cuba
photographed 11.6.2022
laundry day (plastic bags)
Not only did white clothes and sheets and towels get laundered the day I was in town, but someone washed out an assortment of plastic bags and hung them on the line to dry.
Cojímar, Cuba
photographed 11.6.2022
laundry day (detail)
Almost every day seemed like laundry day in Cuba, and this was the day the household washed their white things, which glowed in the tropical light. But mostly what I liked was the thin orange of the clothesline cutting across the view.
Cojímar, Cuba
photographed 11.6.2022
that one boat took on a lot of water
Playa Larga is at the top of the Bay of Pigs*, which is of course the location of the failed attack launched by the CIA in 1961 as an attempt to oust Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The actual invasion was about 45 km south, at the town of Playa Giron, so still pretty close to where I made this photo.
But anyway, I guess you can look at this waterlogged boat as a symbol of that ill-conceived invasion. Or, if you’d prefer, you can look on it as just a really old boat in a country with few resources to repair things like old boats, which will eventually take on water and sink.
Playa Larga, Cuba
photographed 11.10.2022
*I’d’ve used the Spanish name, only the Google map I was referencing, which named other Cuban bodies of water in Spanish, used English for the Bay of Pigs. Using Google Translate, though, I can say with a modest degree of certainty that in Spanish it would be la bahía de cochinos.
One Day | One Image 