Destination Wedding Photography | Miami Wedding Photographer » Cuba

“Ofelia Se Fue Por Mejor Vida”

Roy — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:35:30 +0000

I had just left Cathedral Square headed in the direction of La Bodeguita Del Medio on Calle Empedrado when I first laid eyes on Ofelia ~ I knew that this was a face that I wanted to capture. Slowly as I approached her, I looked up in another direction hoping that she too would look and see what it was that I was interested in and then catch her off guard ~ I slowly turned my camera on her and thru my lens was a finger wagging back and forth and a wonderful raspy voice telling me “ take picture ~ one dollar”. I agreed and took about six shots and she protested that the dollar was for one picture ~ I laughed, gave her a dollar and so started a friendship that has endured these fourteen years.

With every trip to Cuba and there were many, I would make it a point to visit Ofelia, to make sure that she was doing well but what I now realize is finding her was more for my own sanity. You see Ofelia kept my emotions, my spirit grounded. When I would go to Cuba I was flying by the seat of my pants on an emotional roller coaster that was quite intense. With her wit, the stories that she would share with me over café in her rooftop wooden home, my seeing her would give me a balance that I so needed.

Ofela is Cuba ~ she never quit and her outlook on life was always positive ~ she would always say in our conversations ~ Imaginate! (Imagine it)

Today my friend has gone on to a better life ~ Imaginate!

Ofelia ~ Gracias por todo ~ Nunca te voy a olvidar.

Roy

A Glimpse of Cuba: Home Depot in La Habana

Roy — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:27:17 +0000

Most Habaneros live with the reality that when a pipe is beyond repair…that the electric wires short out…a glass breaks…that it won’t be easily replaced. Stores just don’t carry the items necessary for home maintenance…

But when a building collapses…and after every major tropical rainstorm and hurricane there are quite a few that go down…there’s a run on the “home depot”… the resourceful Cuban knows that the ruins are recyclable.

A Glimpse of Cuba: La Maravilla

Roy — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:20:03 +0000

Eleven years ago I stood in front of this building in La Habana Vieja… first the sign caught my eye and then observing the balcony, I noticed the old lady swaying in the window back and forth with the baby in her arms. She was aware that I was shooting and started to fix her hair as if prepping for a portrait. I kept waiting for both child and woman to be in a position to capture both…remember they were swaying. I wonder is she still alive today…the child fast approaching his 12th birthday…

A Glimpse of Cuba: Imaginate

Roy — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:15:41 +0000

At first I was attracted to the gesturing…slapping down of “las fichas”…the commentary…”me pegue”(the joyful, cocky voice of the player who puts his final domino piece on the table at the end of the game) but as I observed the “theater” that I love in life. I noticed this “actress” playing her role…I love the way she fixed her hair carefully bringing the curls out (reminiscent of a cupie doll) out from under her bandana…her bright eyes alert as they danced from each participants gestures…it was late in the day…

A Glimpse of Cuba: Imaginate

Roy — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:00:51 +0000

Santiago De Cuba

Glimpse of Cuba: Photography of the Cuban Spirit

Roy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:18:06 +0000

For the past 13 years I have had a love affair photographing the Cuban people. Their lives, their reality, those that still have a dream and those that have lost the dreams they once had.

Soon I’ll be creating a new website that will feature images and the stories that go with those images. In the meantime, take a look at the special slideshow that I have created. Tell me what you think, I very much appreciate commentary. RL

Bahia De Nipe, Antilla Cuba

Roy — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:55:43 +0000

There is tranquility and peace in this image. An old man takes care of one of his only possessions.

Sunday night the town was 35 miles south of Ike’s landfall in northeast Cuba. I know the old man lives up on a hill. My wife is from here. Most of her family still calls this place home. Half the homes there were built of wood, notice that I speak in the past tense…Fortunately Yeni’s family lives in a house built of cement. They are all safe…so is the old man. But I can’t account for the condition of his boat.

The Ruins of Havana

Roy — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:45:52 +0000

It is impossible to ignore the dangerously undermaintained shape of a serious number of La Habana’s buildings ― many of which collapse or become uninhabitable and unusable each year. Theodore Dalrymple’s essay Why Havana Had to Die addresses this more depressing view rather eloquently. Dalrymple writes of ‘the Ruins of Havana’ and bluntly reminds us that, “Forty-three years of totalitarian dictatorship have left the city of Havana ― one of the most beautiful in the world ― suspended in a peculiar state halfway between preservation and destruction.” This is a great read!