planning a trip to cuba

[fondueman]

i have an idea i'd like to go to Cuba late this year or early 2010 for a few weeks. mainly a camera holiday, will go with an M7 and an RD1S, i imagine.

has anyone been to Cuba? what is it like for photographers? i am mainly interested in the urban landscape but also the people as well, and personally, the music and contemporary art gallery scenes.

any tips on safety, warnings, security, costs? i know people who went a few years back, early 2000s, but i think it might be changed now.

any comments would be appreciated. i am not travelling from the US (not american). i understand there are issues with US citizens going to cuba? not sure...

thanks.

[NathanJD]

Yes there's governmental friction between America and Cuba although Obama is building bridges in that respect these days.

Cuba is a gold mine for urban pictures - lots of street life, urban decay (LOTS of urban decay) lots of characters and fancy 50s American cars.

There are also a lot of beggars - the state police regulate things quite well there but expect to be pestered very badly. the good news is you can swap pictures for coinage and you'll see ladies dressed in 'traditional' costumes in Havana that come up to you and pinch your bum to have you pose with them and have their photo taken (they want money for this... they want money for everything but then they are VERY poor so what can you do.).

I’m sure they'll explain when you get there but the beggars are allowed to ask you for money once but not again and it's illegal for you to give them anything so keep an eye out for the formal chaps walking around in army gear and side arms (DON'T PHOTOGRAPH THEM). If kids come up to you begging it's like feeding a seagull feed one and expect a crowd to follow you for the rest of your trip.

Don’t buy stuff off the local touts - especially cigars - they're cheap enough from the factory.

Take lots n lots of colour film because it's a really vibrant place.

I went there before I was really into photography and these days I think of it as an opportunity lost.

You’ll have lots of fun there mate!! Best of luck with it and please post the results

[nksyoon]

I would recommend getting away from the more touristic areas of Havana, as well as travelling away from Havana to minimize the problem of money for pictures.

If you want to give kids things, take something useful like colouring pens and pencils, notebooks, and similar things. You could also contact aid groups to see if there's something useful like medicines or other difficult to get items which would be useful. A German dentist I was travelling with took a set of dental instruments to give to Cuban dentists.

The Cuban sub-forum on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum has lots of info.

Here are some of my pictures from Cuba (shot on R-D1):
http://nickyoon.com/pictures/cubadance/
http://nickyoon.com/pictures/cubasingles/
http://nickyoon.com/pictures/cubaparade/

[NathanJD]

Also, the Cuban people are generally not camera shy or too offended by being photographed

[Ricko of Fla]

I am waiting of Obama to open up Cuba for Us citizens, you guys are lucky as you can go to Cuba. have a new M8 and can not wait to shoot Cuba.

[Socke]

there are photoworkshops in Havana arranged by a german company with Sven Creutzmann, a photographer working for Stern and Geo, then there are scenic tours to all the well known places and much more.

It depends on your budget and how much time you want to spend in Cuba, a friend and his wife just spent three weeks in Cuba on a guided tour where they stayed in private hostels for a night or two and travelled to the most historically interesting places.

[Joao]

Hi
I was there one year ago and I brought nice memories from that good time..
All the above posts have sound advice. I would add a note of caution concerning contacts with young girls (sometimes very young) trying to attract foreigners in Central Havana and in Havana Vieja.
Take a lot of film, especially colour film, you'll find lots of subjects everywhere.
Safety was not an issue for me, even when walking at night in empty streets. Taxis are really inexpensive, and it is a privilege to ride some of them.
Be prepared to pay a fee in your way out, at the airport. It must be paid in "convertible pesos", no other cash accepted, neither credit card. If your credit card is issued by an American bank, it will not be accepted anywhere in Cuba (US Dollars are accepted ).
Some postcards here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joaofre...7605772166106/
You may like to talk to the photographers near the Capitolio: they have home-made/adapted large cameras to photograph tourists, pictures are developed and printed inside the camera body. I had nice chats with some of them, their capacity to handle all the gear and chemicals is unbelievable.
http://public.fotki.com/BlueWind/fotografo-minutero/
Have a nice trip - and post some pictures.
Joao

[nksyoon]

Originally Posted by Socke

there are photoworkshops in Havana arranged by a german company with Sven Creutzmann, a photographer working for Stern and Geo, then there are scenic tours to all the well known places and much more.

I can recommend Sven - great guy. I travelled with Freiraum Fotografie (info in German only) and did a workshop with him but Sven doesn't seem to be working with them anymore. If you're interested, drop me a line and I can contact him - he speaks good English. He's now with Getty and may have less time for workshops.

This recent GEO special has many photographs by him.

http://www.creutzmann.com/
http://globalassignment.gettyimages....m/Default.aspx

[Larky]

I spent two weeks in Havana last year, it was nothing like I had imagined and nothing like people from the tourist board had told me. I didn't do the tourist holiday, I don't like beaches, so I stayed in the city for two weeks. You can see some of my shots (been a year and still haven't scanned them all) on my flickr.

Basically most people are friendly, but you will get asked for money a lot if you photograph somebody. My advice is not to pay, smile nicely and wander off. If you pay you'll get hoarded. When you get asked, generally by a couple, how long you have been there say two weeks, even if it's your first day. You'll get couples asking you to go somewhere all the time, just keep walking. Don't be afraid to stick your ground and don't take any crap.

You'll get told by your hotel and holiday operator where is safe and where is not, ignore them. If you stay where is safe you'll come back with an album of holiday snaps. Keep your gear close, keep it light and explore. Ask for small bills when you change money as they'll try to give you only 20's, you'll need as many small bills as you can get for tips etc.

The light is very harsh there, incredibly harsh. Shooting on ISO 50 I could still get up to 2000th second at f8, it's crazy bright as almost everything is white or cream! You'll deal with extreme light and shadow.

In general everyone is friendly, don't worry about photographing people. If they don't want to be shot, you'll get a certain look or they'll just wander off. Do yourself a favor and learn some basic Spanish to help with ordering and asking for the bill. If you can try a Negron (pronounced neg ron with a slight roll at the r), it's a great drink. Tip your hotel room cleaning lady a couple of dollars a day and you'll get well looked after. Take a bucket load of film as you will use a ton more than you think. Stay away from the young girls (and the old ones!) and try the chicken on a skewer. Oh, the poshest looking places to eat are generally the worst. If I think of more, I'll post.

[peter_n]

Great thread, I'm hoping to go there next year.

[fondueman]

wow! what an amazing response! and your advice is fantastic, very much what i was hoping to hear. it sounds a photographer's holiday, which is what i'm after. i have just "retired" although certainly still working as an independent photographe. for 50 or so years (more like 40 earning money at it) working for clients i am now wanting to just shoot for myself and i thought cuba sounded a great place to do it.

it is still some months away but i will repay you all with a good folio of images when it is finally done and dusted.

thanks!

[Bob Michaels]

I am still trying to decide on a trip from the US. Undecided if I just want to go through the Bahamas or Mexico (undocumented) like so many do or want to try to get an independent journalist pass.

Question to those who have been; re: inexpensive gifts for local photographers. I do feel confident I can find them. Should I bring b&w film or something more modern? I would hate to have a few extra bricks of Arista Premium to carry as gifts and find out most there would just love a cheap CF card instead. Likewise, I would hate to find out that I have a bunch of cheap digital cards and find everyone was shooting with a Zorki. Thoughts?

[DRabbit]

Originally Posted by Ricko of Fla

I am waiting of Obama to open up Cuba for Us citizens, you guys are lucky as you can go to Cuba. have a new M8 and can not wait to shoot Cuba.

Same here. I'm so jealous! My husband is cuban and his mom grew up there (came to the U.S right before the revolution). She can travel there, but only every 3 years. We just found out that her sisters got permission to come here for a while!

I *SO* want to go...

[jke]

I just got back from Cuba on April 7th. I went as part of a humanitarian-ecological mission with Cariibbean Conservation Trust as an American with a Treasury department license. It was a great trip. We were doing a bird census and so spent most of our time in the countryside, which is where the birds are. That means mostly rural environments. The hotels we stayed in were competently outfitted, and the food, while not tremendously variable, was just fine (and in some places, excellent) and certainly far more hearty than most Cubans eat. I found nearly every person I met more than eager to talk to me, even if they spoke no English (I speak very little but some Spanish, French and German, all of which I used.) There were prostitutes in several of the towns, but outside of Havana, I seemed more interesting as a type of wandering zoo animal (I am 6 feet tall with red hair and red beard and very nerdy glasses) than a potential John (apologies to men named John who are reading this.) Once the offer was declined, I was basically left alone. Stared at but left alone.

People in Cuba were poor but not unhappy. There are simple pleasures even if complaining about the government cannot be one of them. And the Cubans seem very able makers of "stone soup" - that is, something from nothing. We saw all manners of conveyance. Bicycles motorcycles pedicabs trucks buses carriages wagons you name it. If you go and rent a car to see the country side, anyone who drives a car and has seats available is expected to help with mass transit by picking up hitchhikers. Tourist coaches cannot do this, so check with the rental car company (Cubacar I think it is called) whether that is allowed for you if you rent. There may be a "tourist apartheid" in effect for tourist rentals.

The best restaurant for my money in Havana is a place called La Guarida, which is a grown up version of a restaurant for tourists that began during the special period (after 1991) when Castro said it was okay for citizens to make a bit of money by serving tourists in their homes. Ask anyone in Havana where it is and they'll show you. Or just tell the taxi you want to go. Reservations required, though you can also wait in line. Great restaurant with tremendous atmosphere in a building that seems held together by dental floss.

Don't take photos of army or police. Don't try to involve people in conversations about politics. Even the most innocuous conversational topics in the area of world events or political criticism may be dangerous for the person with whom you are speaking. You may just get ignored or tossed out of the country, but the Cuban you spoke with may face a long uncomfortable time in a police station and might even lose some of the few rights they have. Follow their lead and don't push the conversation where you think it should go. Don't change money with strangers. Don't give anyone American dollars.

We didn't have any troubles, and everywhere we went was terrific. One of our group carried a suitcase full of pens, pencils, pads of paper and bars of soap. These were VERY appreciatively accepted by teachers and parents. I'd avoid giving directly to children as too much confusion may ensure about your motives, thanks to the immorality of some tourists. We were also warned against children's books as they may be seen as political subterfuge. Other innocent things to bring might be baseballs (Cuba is baseball) or soccer balls.

Try to see Camaguey - it is a great town roughly in the center of the country. Also try to get to Santiago de Cuba (very historic) Baracoa (far east of the country) Guanahacabibes (far west) the Pinar del Rio area (spas, springs, caves) and any place on Isla de la Juventud (off the south coast.) The latter bunch I did not visit (except for Pinar del Rio) but I heard so many interesting things about them, I have to go back. And if you can get to any of the southern mountains (Sierra Maestra for example) go. I understand a large percentage of the mountains are off-limits and controlled by the army.

Note: In 2008, Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike went across Cuba (10 days apart) and smashed a goodly portion of the forests in the mid-to-western part of the island (Gustav) and the eastern-south-central parts (Ike.) With Gustav, winds topped out at over 200km/h, though they don't know how much over because the hurricane destroyed the weather station. The result is that some infrastructure is still broken, so check carefully about hotels, roads and campsites before heading out if you go to that area.

I plan to post my photos later tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll put a link here when I do. In the meantime, you can see my photos of getting my portrait made in central Havana on the steps of the Capitolio by an old photographer and his ancient camera here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jornake...7616643329082/

[boy_lah]

I 'just' got back from 2 weeks in Cuba. Travelled throughout the country with a car / my patient wife and young baby. Will be posting some pix as soon as I have it.

Amazing place, i shot mainly early morning and late evening. Shot mainly in colour although I had plan to do more BW. Amazing country, very poor, very warm people. Highly recommended.

In terms of shooting cuban people, i had no problems whatsoever. Some of the comments are true but if you get out of Havanna Vieja there is less issue. I shot mainly in Centro - the crumpling (hence to me more characteristic bit) of Havanna.

Originally Posted by nksyoon

Here are some of my pictures from Cuba (shot on R-D1):
http://nickyoon.com/pictures/cubadance/
http://nickyoon.com/pictures/cubasingles/
http://nickyoon.com/pictures/cubaparade/

some nice work there nick...well done.

[boy_lah]

Originally Posted by jke

The best restaurant for my money in Havana is a place called La Guarida,

I second La Guarida. Excellent food.

I preferred Cinquenfego and tiny villages like Rodas & Zuluita to touristry Trinidad.

ps - Havanna is very hot, humid and dusty. It can wear you down.

[jke]

Okay, I finished all my scanning. I started a new thread to keep the photos from getting in the way here. Here is the link. @Fondueman, let me know if you have any questions on anything.

[urban_alchemist]

Advice? Don't go.

I guess I'm going against the grain here, but I absolutely hated every second I spent in Cuba and would never consider going back again. Why? Where do I start...

We decided to go for my father's sixtieth birthday - a birthday that coincided with Fidel's 80th birthday. My father is Argentine, and like almost everyone else, he (and I) were drawn into the revolutionary romanticism of the Cuban revolution and, of course, El Che. He had the same reaction I did...

The image is not the reality. I grew up partly in Communist China, and even I was not ready for what I saw in Cuba. Remember, this is Communist: that means that everything is controlled by the state - from the woman begging in 'traditional outfits' to the staff at your hotel. There is no meritocracy. There is no freedom of association, occupation or speech. Everyone is engaged in a hyper-surreal world of intrigue, misinformation and espionage.

Like what? Well, to give the most basic example: if the society is not based on a meritocratic model, what would get you a job? Well, your position and relationship with the party of course. And why would you get a job? Not what it was, but what you could steal from it.

Let's take the worker at a hotel who cooks your steak. He has his job not because it is presitigious or because he's a particularly good cook; not even for the pittance of a wage he takes home. No, he has his job, because it gives him access to meat. So, if you order a 300g steak, he will shave 10g from the slab that ends up infront of you and put it in a bucket in the fridge. Why? Because in a country where each family gets 1kg of meat per month (most of it fat with a sprinkling of blood for colour), he can end up with a few extra kg a month to haggle, barter and use to buy favours, food or 'luxury goods'. This goes for every commodity in the state.

This 'lifestyle espionage' cuts to the core of the society. Those that get to positions of relative power are the people who are willing to subvert and use the system. Marriages come and go to secure housing. Children are born and traded to procure food. And on every side the state bombards with hollow slogans and propaganda that not even the population believes.

And then you arrive, as a tourist. And you realise that everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) you see and touch and interract with is a micro-managed operation by the state to extract your money. Money that will not go to the people, but will be channelled straight back into the government coffers. To then be spent on perpetuating this very system.

I had a panic attack in the Museum of The Great Victory (or whatever they called Batista's old palace) right about where the blood-stained outfit of one of the martyrs still stood, stinking and surrounded by flies. Cuba has 30m people in it, and this form of Communism (so much more sinister than the Chinese system) is their life - their reality. It was only supposed to be a footnote in history, but for them it is very very real. That's why hundreds die every year trying to float to Florida. Not because they want a nice sea-journey...

I have some beautiful photos from Cuba. http://www.flickr.com/photos/7592660...7605667624507/

But I will not be going again.

[Larky]

Wow, that's quite intense.

[fondueman]

a continuing thanks to all who have encouragements and anecdotes and an acknowledgment to him who has a personal bent against visiting a country that is made of people supposedly suppressed by a system not of his own liking. in my years on the ground as a photographer, mainly cultural lifestyle archiving for journals, etc, my experiences have shown that the people make the country as a flavour and not a bad taste...the governments make the circumstances in which that flavour permeates back to the hearts of the peoples. because it isn't yours doesn't mean it is always bad all of the time...

i don't need to see poverty and depression, don't need to photograph it, but we do with an instinct rather than a judgement. cuba is not the only socialised country that is presumedly poor and people shave off slices of steak to feed themselves. i have travelled extensively through most of the world with a camera and probably the most heart-wrenching sights of a western culture were in the deeply depressed and neglected corners of large as well as remote cities of the US. but that has not tainted the tourism of that country. then there is mexico, south america, africa, asia. i was in Czechoslovakia in the 60s when the tanks rolled in, in Germany when the wall went up overnight (and some time in the east after the wall was well and truly a divider of freedoms (by western anglo standards). but that was work.

but in most cases the cultures remained the same or only slightly altered...only the circumstances in which those cultures moderated were affected by governments. but, yes, many people lost much including lives and personal ownerships of their positions in the cultures affected... this is what history is all about telling. people conquer lands and change them, good and bad. the poverty of cuba is as much the responsibility of countries which instated embargos at the wrath of the US as it is the lingering idealogies of a dying regime.

so, depression, corruption and suppression are not necessarily reasons for a photographer not to visit a country... if anything they are the reasons to visit if only to document the changes toward the balance of what a culture will become in its own time. but not every view has to have a militaristic slant.

for the naive traveller perhaps the Alchemistic advisements might be noted..and there is no way anyone would know if i were a naive or well-worn traveller in this thread. so i thank him of his intentions. and yes, i think anyone should be aware that the back alleys are not always as picturesque as might be the main drags (although i would disagree with myself on that one) of a society.

so the picture is now more rounded. and i'll go back and look at the attachments of the posters in this thread. am now just finishing my first coffee and the dog beckons a w-a-l-k...

frank

[fondueman]

... a very impressive and tempting set of photos, jke... itchy feet in these old shoes, now...

and isn't it an irony, the Alchemist has photos of happy and contented faces. also impressive...baseball boys and cigar smoking ladies. cuba has to be a good place...

one must consider all things.

thanks, frank

[jke]

Nicely said, Fondueman. And thanks for the compliment.

I don't think anyone on our trip had any illusions about the nature of the Cuban government. We had scientists, doctors, retired state department diplomats, retired journalists - all avid amateur ornithologists with keen observational skills. Well-read in foreign affairs. We had to go through quite a few hoops to get there legally, some hoops from our government and some from theirs.

I have met people here in NYC who were members of the American Communist party in the 50's who still view Cuba as a sort of revolutionary Shangri-lah. But that's their own myopia, not mine. Universal health care and a high literacy rate are accomplishments, but the lack of a free and open society is a big omission.

Still, in the countryside, I waved and people waved back. They waved and I waved back. Shook some hands. Talked. Maybe I was talking to the government. I certainly considered it. I tried to simply to treat everyone with respect like I was taught by my parents.

[fondueman]

apologies, friend. i think you misunderstand my use of "naive." it is meant more for people who are not seasoned travellers. i can not mean you as i don't know you. and i really don't think i have sent along any slurs to you or about you. sorry if you think so. i did say in my reply that your comments were worthy of your own values and not necessarily my own and that you have right. and to be sure, anyone's advice is worthy of respect where applicable, i'm sure yours applies to some.

so, so i thank him of his intentions...as i said in your quote of me. and i am impressed with your qualifications...how do you use them?

again as i said, consider all things.

frank

[boy_lah]

I've just posted a few shots on my flickr page.

[jke]

i can not mean you as i don't know you. and i really don't think i have sent along any slurs to you or about you.

No no, I didn't think that at all. Far from it. I liked what you said and thought it showed remarkable tact. Very perceptive. I was responding to the previous poster who was dismayed by the reality of the Cuban government after traveling there. I was just being a bit introspective and trying to decide whether I had in some way created the impulse for his response.

We're all good here. No fault no foul.

Nice shots with the DP1, boy_lah! Nice to see those.