The pervasive old American car, the blues, the red.
Cuba imagery has become a commonplace. But not more than any other destination that has been shown mainly as a touristic destination.
Lately I see Cuba as an amalgam of colors and grotesque potpourri where everything goes together creating an obsolete and extemporary aesthetics. Anything goes: from the pose of a severe new business man/crocodile trainer to the absurd mannequin trapped in a fishbowl in a weird department store. I have been visiting Cuba, several times per year, during the last 12 years. I have come to the conclusion that escaping the “cliché” was becoming impossible .. So much that I decided to embrace the cliché and work with it…
From the time I started to get interested in photography, years ago, imagines of Cuba in the ‘20’s have always fascinated me: the American cars, the elegant people, the palaces, the dance halls, and the musicians. Especially the musicians.
Many sites in Cuba, offer the privilege of feeling as if you were in a time tunnel, whisked backward 80 years with hardly any effort at all. I like Oldtown Havana because it represents what my imagination dreams Cuba to be: like a déjà vu though I have never lived it, a jump back in time that I never had the occasion to know, and have only seen through old movies. The residents of south part of the neighborhood are always available for conversation. There are few things that they love better than a pleasant chat. A few laughs, maybe, and then if it’s possible, a glass of rum. Oh, and the music. Again another stereotype…
About Harry Fisch
Harry Fisch was the Winner of the 2012 world national geographic photo contest in the Places Category, and later disqualified due to editing-out a plastic bag (read the post ” How I won and lost the National Geographic contest in less than one second” ) . He has also been a finalist in the 2013 sony world photo awards and two awards of merit in France, grand prix de la decouverte 2013. Finalist in the 2010 Photoespaña contest , possibly the most prestigious Spanish photographic event, in the section “Discoveries”. A writer in different international photography publications, Harry Fisch’s work has been published in various prestigious web photography sites such as Lens Culture, Maptia, Ephotozine, “La lettre de la photographie”, which was nominated best Blog of 2011 by the prestigious magazine LIFE.
His interest in the photography of localities and cultural realities has seen him travel through the “Golden Triangle” area between Laos, Burma and Thailand, the camel fair of Pushkar in India, visiting the famous temples of Bagan in Myanmar or spending days in the lost salt mines in the desert of the Kutch. Mongolia, Cuba, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Senegal, Japan, are just an example of the destinations – more than 50 countries – that Harry Fisch has documented and later included on many itinerary of his photo tours. Harry Fisch designs the photographic tours from the human perspective; looking for different locations, sometimes a nearby residence, or attending an event, accepting an invitation that can make contact between the traveler and the people the photographer more real and personal.
Harry Fisch Contributes to International Photography Magazines as SLR Lounge, Lightstalking, Digital Photography school, Extraordinary Vision Magazine, (USA), Photography Week, Digital World (UK), Fotógrafo Digital(Spain), and several other magazines. After years of traveling, has come to the conclusion that technique and vision are indispensable tools, but that empathy, curiosity, pleasure through personal relationships are the determinants which enable photography to transmit so much more than a post card. [Official Website]
