It’s never too late to do something for the first time.
My most recent “first” was to travel alone to a foreign country (I don’t count Canada, they’re just like us, with the exception of poutine…). Not only a foreign country but, one that has been an “enemy” of the United States for my entire life. Cuba.
Peter Turnley, one of the most accomplished photo journalists in the last 50 years, leads photo workshops in Havana three or four times per year. I booked a spot for myself as a photographer and one for Becki as a companion to attend his December workshop last year. Work got in the way of that trip. I re-scheduled for his March 2015 trip, unfortunately, without Becki this time.
Flying in to Miami on March 6th I was a bit nervous about Cuba. I had no idea what I should expect about a country that we have been taught is an enemy and how the people would react to someone from the US. I know I wasn’t the first to make this trip, but I could not help feeling that traveling to Havana was somehow different than all of the other countries that I’ve visited. It was.
The city of Havana is striking in its faded and crumbling beauty. It is not difficult to imagine just how stunning the city must have been in its heyday. The fine and detailed architecture is till apparent, even as it crumbles and turns to rubble. Everywhere you turn there is a magnificent opportunity for making a photograph.
It is the people that made the greatest impression on me though. Warm and friendly, gracious and kind, welcoming to anyone who stopped to talk or who took an interest in what they were doing. The memories and photographs of the people of Havana are what I will cherish.
Now that the United States and Cuba are attempting to normalize relations, opening up the possibility for travel to more US citizens, I am hopeful that the embargo will soon end and the notion of Cuba being our enemy will fade into history.
