Blog Archives
#7: blockade and foreign policy
My attention wandered, after a while. I became much less interested in joining the group who were photographing the boxers at the gym and instead turned my attention to the details of the place. You know, the way I tend to do: details reveal a lot, but only if you take some time to step away from yourself and let them reveal themselves to you.
And so that’s how I got this shot of a saggy table and a bunch of notices, just inside the doorway off Calle Cuba.
After I got home, I spent some time translating (Google Translate, if I am being honest: I am not a translator) what all that stuff on the walls said. Item number 7, on the list titled “Directrices” (Guidelines) says “bloqueo y polítca exterior,” or “blockade and foreign policy.” Without context (Who is supposed to follow those guidelines? Why are they on the wall at a boxing gym?), it seems confusing.
But on the other hand, blockades and foreign policies did impact our visit, our visa requirements, and probably other things I don’t even know about. So there’s that.
Gimnasia de Boxeo Rafael Trejo
Havana, Cuba
photographed 11.11.2022
dancers, 3
A row of dancers, moving in time to Cuban music, at a rate that blurred feet, blurred reality, blurred photos.
Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba
Havana, Cuba
photographed 11.11.2022
the woman on the stairs
I glance into open doorways. Always. I can’t help it.
But also: that’s how I noticed this woman sitting on the stairs of a building in la habana vieja, the old quarter of the city.
Havana, Cuba
photographed 11.11.2022
cleaned out
This was the state in many of the tombs I looked in at the Havana cemetery. Mostly, there wasn’t anything much inside them. And see how that arched door is standing open? And how the niche behind it is empty?
And then think about how security officers stopped our cars as we left, and glanced inside the trunks.
And reach your own conclusion.
Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón
Havana, Cuba
photographed 11.11.2022
girl (with kitten)
You may remember that back in the Old Days (prior to mid-August 2022), I would actively avoid photographing people. Actively. Like head-quickly-in-the-other-direction if someone dared to intrude into my carefully constructed no-visible-people scene.
So, then maybe you’re surprised at all these images of people I’ve been posting? But no matter how surprised YOU are, I am even more shocked at this turn of events.
I saw this girl walking down a street in Havana and as soon as I saw the kitten in the carrier, I knew I needed a photo. And here we are.
Havana, Cuba
photographed 11.11.2022
One Day | One Image 