The Man behind the Lens
In December 2009, having baseball as my main subject of interest, I picked up the first camera I ever owned, a point-and-shoot Samsung KENOX S760. Then, I started photographing for ¡AHORA!, the local paper of my native Holguín, in eastern Cuba.
I already had previous experience photographing while working in Havana. I had used the camera of my friend and former classmate Odette Fernández, who also has a business as a photographer in Miami. We both fell instantly in love with photography back then, not knowing the life that lay ahead of us.
Pope Francis blesses a child prior to his mass in Holguín, Cuba, on September 21, 2015.|Credit: Reynaldo Cruz Díaz
A translator for most of my time in the newspaper, I worked fully as a photographer for the last three years there. I had the opportunity to photograph historic moments, like the visit of Holguín by Pope Francis, the visit of Cuba by US President Barack Obama, and the funeral procession of Fidel Castro, along with several cultural, social, political and sports events.
Simultaneously, I began rediscovering my country, uncovering social issues overlooked in the past. The lens revealed the increasing poignancy of poverty and decay, at times evoking profound sadness. People became more than subjects; I started crafting stories about the strangers captured on camera, delving into their essence and soul.
After leaving the paper and moving to Havana in October 2017, I started working with I Love Cuba Photo Tours, a team of entrepreneurs led by my friend Yosel Vázquez. As a member of that team, my perception of Cuba’s reality widened, prompted by seeing even sadder images than the ones I had been used to in Holguín.
This experience marked the true start of my life as a documentary photographer. Little by little, my lens started getting more involved, more active, more rebellious. I went from being a shy photographer in the big city to being a true urban explorer.
It was also with I Love Cuba Photo Tours that I embraced my interest for portraiture. Many of our clients’ desire was to be photographed in the highlights and the off-the-beaten-path areas of Havana. Ergo, members of the team had to play with the natural light available to us to create compelling portraits for customers to take home, treasure, and even print.
But in many cases, our clients were photographers looking to see an image of Cuba not available in tourist brochures. That way, our eye became even more trained… and the results of our photos were more uncomfortable for government authorities.
I started pouring my photos onto my Instagram account. At first sporadically, then more frequently. Finally, starting in December 2019 until July 11, 2021, I made at least one instagram post every day. July 12 was the first time in over a year and a half without posting for me. The massive protests that shook Cuba the previous day had prompted the government to shut down the internet to tackle all possible video postings and prevent organization among the demonstrators.
Those days also marked the beginning of the end for me in my own country. By the end of August, I had embarked on a journey into Mexico: one that would not only allow me to learn about such a beautiful country, but also to debunk the image of excessive violence and constant danger fed to us by the media.
San Miguel de Allende proved to be a beautiful experience in all fronts. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the beauty of the city is bewitching, and the people are welcoming and friendly. For almost five months (except for two weeks in Mexico City, a couple of days in Querétaro, a couple of visits to Celaya, and a day in Dolores Hidalgo), I explored and practically owned the streets of San Miguel.
My curiosity took me from the touristy glamour of the historic Centro to the mystery and uncertainty of the back streets. I photographed everything I could, befriended strangers, and published on Instagram. After crossing the Mexico-US border by walking through Rio Grande, I had hundreds of good documentary photos of Mexico.
In the US, I have explored portraits again, rescued my interest for sports photography, and done some documentary and travel photography. I also started doing assignments and covering events (something that didn’t fall too far from my experience as a photojournalist in Holguín).
My interests in growing and helping others prompted me to create a community named Cuban Lenses United, to gather Cuban photographers all over the world and gather experiences of foreign photographers in Cuba.
