PHOTOWORKSHOP.COM Member News
Cuban Interlude: A Photographic Dream Fulfilled
By Jerry Currier
May 1, 2008

All images © Jim McKinniss

Photoworkshop.com member, Jim McKinniss recently returned from a trip to Cuba.  Here is his report from that journey:  

Jerry Currier: Jim, I thought that travel to Cuba by American citizens violated U.S. law.  How did you arrange to avoid that restriction?  

Jim McKinniss:  I didn't go there illegally.  U.S.  citizens can travel to Cuba legally if they obtain a license from the Treasury Dept.  I went with a group organized by a company called Global Exchange.  They made all of the required arrangements.  

However, American carriers cannot fly into Cuba so I had to make my own arrangements via Mexicana Airlines into Cancun, Mexico.  Global Exchange arranged the flights in and out of Cuba from Cancun and got us Cuban entry and exit visas.  

JC:  From a photographer’s perspective, what were your aims in visiting Cuba?  

JM:  I’ve wanted to go to Cuba for a very long time.  The photographs and movies I have seen over the years have left me with the impression of a country trapped in some type of time capsule that has leaked a bit.  It won’t be long after the Castro brothers leave the scene before Cuba starts to change.  This change will most likely be very dramatic.  I was hoping to capture a flavor of the Cuban experience as it exists today before the roads are repaired, before the ‘55 Chevy cars are replaced with Toyotas, and before the grand old hotels succumb to developers who replace them with glass and steel monsters.  


JC:  I understand that you were with a tour group.  Did you find this restricted your photographic aims and efforts?  

JM:  I'm not big on tour groups but for this particular trip the tour was the best choice. The bad part of being on a tour is that you are part of a tour.  When you're in a dictatorship, you have a lot of extra restrictions placed on your access to the country and its people.  In this case, we had a fairly strict itinerary and an official Cuban guide.  So much of my time in Cuba was spent on a tour bus, in museums or in officially approved situations.  Consequently, I shot a lot of images through the window of the bus as we traveled around Havana.  Shooting from the bus had a definite impact on my success rate!  


JC:  Did you ever feel that there was there an element of risk while you were there?  

JM:  Cuba is a very poor country so walking around the city of Havana with my camera had some risk involved in it.  When you combine that risk with the fact that many people don't like to have their picture taken, you have to use extra caution and many times shoot quickly and then move on.  Incidentally, Havana is about the same size as Los Angeles City in land area.  

Having said all of this, I had a terrific time.  The art scene in Cuba is wonderful.  There is a vibrancy to the art community that is missing in many areas of this country.  The young photographers are highly skilled and produce exciting and creative photographs.  

Also, even though we had to have an official guide with us during the day, our evenings were free.  Our guide was a young woman named Evia.  She was terrific, with a good sense of humor and a good knowledge of the art and history of the country.  


JC:  Were you able to move beyond the strictures of the tour group and personally sample the country and the people?  

JM:  One of the members of the group knows the chief curator of Phototeca in Havana.  The curator arranged for us to go to dinner at the house of an artist where we met with four young photographers who showed us marvelous work.  Besides the art, we had the opportunity to socialize with these people and discuss the social and political environment in Cuba.  

Another member of the group, a woman named Nola, was one of those people who can get off the boat in a strange country and know 20 people in a few hours.  

Our American tour leader talked about a photographer named Raul Corrales who was the official photographer of the Cuban Revolution.  It turns out that Raul died in 2006 but his son, also named Raul, was still living somewhere in Cuba but our tour leader was not sure where.  

Somehow Nola got Raul’s phone number and we met with him.  He invited Nola and me to his house for lunch the next day.  He picked us up at the hotel, took us shopping at a farmer’s market for the lunch produce.  He spoke little English so he had his daughter take off work at the local TV station to act as an interpreter.  He drove us to his house in Cojimar where we met his wife.  

They prepared a terrific lunch and we had the opportunity to just relax and talk about his father's work and life in Cuba.  After lunch Raul gave both of us a book of photographs of his father's work.  He also gave us another photo book about Che Guevara with pictures by many Cuban photographers, including his father.   

At the end of our visit, Raul took us to his mother's house where we had the opportunity to look at original prints of his father's work.  

As an interesting sidebar, Ernest Hemingway used to hang out in Cojimar at a restaurant/bar that still exists and is right next door to Raul’s house.  Corrales senior photographed Hemingway many times in Cojimar and on other occasions and locations as well.  


JC:  Were there any instances that you felt were aimed at conveying the official party line of the Cuban government?  

JM:  Global Exchange is a politically sensitive group so the itinerary reflected that.  For example, we had to spend some time at the Cuba Friendship House and listen to what amounted to Cuban propaganda.  The propaganda wasn't real heavy but it was part of the "program."  

I think this political sensitivity impacted our tour group's ability to get out and experience Cuban daily life because of the relatively tight and long daily schedule of official activities.  

The few hours of free time I had were really enjoyable and I did find the Cubans to be friendly.  Looking back, I think that our tour leader was overly cautious about safety.  I think I may have let the tour leader's warnings influence me to much.  


JC:  Overall it seems that the trip was an educational and creative success for you.  Are you planning a return trip?  

JM:  I'm hoping to go back next year with a group that provides more individual freedom to participants.  Since I did make some local Cuban contacts, I'm hoping I can renew those and explore Havana with one or more of them as unofficial guides.  


JC:  Jim, thanks for sharing your experiences in Cuba as well as some of your photographs from this adventure.  I wonder if you could tell us what equipment you took with you and if you return to Cuba, will you make any equipment changes?  

JM: Well, I have never found it necessary to have a lot of photographic equipment.  I shoot with a Canon 1Ds Mark II and I took my three lenses, which are the Canon EF 16-35mm L zoom, 100mm macro prime, and a 200mm L prime.  Besides that, I had polarizers for each lens, a UV filter for each, and a two-stop ND filter for the 100mm lens.  I also took my tripod but didn’t use it. This is all of the equipment I ever use and I wouldn’t make any changes.  


To see more of Jim McKinniss' images, visit http://jim_mckinniss.photoworkshop.com


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