Ernesto Bazan: Cuba

I looked at Ernesto Bazan’s photographs in his book Cuba. I was immediately drawn to this project before even seeing the photos, because of my near obsession with Cuba. I have had the fortune to visit Cuba twice. I was living in Key West going to the Community College there, when a chance arose to take a “field trip” with my photography class to Cuba for a week. I jumped at it—what an opportunity! I think that it was the idea of travelling somewhere that, because of the political situation, seemed to have been stuck in a certain point in time. I long for nostalgia and all things vintage. Even though the once beautiful building facades and 1950s cars are now peeling, rusting and crumbling, I still saw so much beauty there. And, I have never met a more friendly people, on the whole. I came away with a love for Cuba. SO I went back. The second time, a year later, I travelled alone. Without the proper permits, I made the journey via Jamaica and asked the Cubans at the airport to please not stamp my passport. This time I explored alone. Everywhere I went I felt safe and welcome. I was frequently invited into peoples’ homes to visit, be given a cool glass of water, or be shown their proudly displayed photos or cable TV’s. I felt at home.

This is one way in which I can relate to Bazan’s work. After a visit to Cuba, Bazan fell in love with the country and moved there. While my two weeklong visits were short compared to his 14 years of life and photography there, the country definitely made an impression on me. Although the link to his entire book is not yet up on his website, there were many examples from the book to look at. I think these were enough to give me a feel for his project.

Bazan’s photographs are black and white, super contrasty, grainy and kind of dark. I really love the way he shoots and prints. I always want everything I do to be B&W, I can’t really get away from it. It gives a different feel to the photos (compared with Harris’ Cuba color photos). Looking through his photos, I notice there doesn’t seem to be a lot of joy in them, even in a few of the ones where there are children playing. There is more a sense of curiosity or solemnity, even. Maybe this is because they are so dark and the expressions fairly consistent.

I think the work that I am doing on my current project parallels Bazan’s in that it is documenting what I might call the ordinary—what is happening in a day to day situation of a certain group of people. My subjects are more specific—the world of Sunnyside High school, while Bazan is documenting the people of an entire country, but we are both just seeing through our cameras what is happening in a normal day. I found this quote by Bazan that pretty much sums that point up, “I look at my work in Cuba as a meditation on the human condition. My images aren’t about larger-than-life heroes, they are about real people, like you and me, waking up everyday and facing life as best they can.” I am starting to learn more about capturing a story in one shot, rather than only a beautiful image, and in my project I want to show intriguing photos that will tell a story or at least make the viewer interested in seeing/learning more. I think Bazan does this very well in his photos. They capture a moment in time and tell a story.
I thought going into my project I would capture a bunch of misbehaving high schoolers and their ugly school back drop being taught by a frustrated woman. Now I am seeing more intimate moments and mostly happy kids—although there are definitely some trouble makers. It’s interesting putting yourself into an environment and seeing how the locals react to you. After 14 years in Cuba, I’m sure Bazan was very close to his adopted Cuban people and they accepted him and his constant photo-taking. For my project, after several weeks of invading this particular classroom, I feel the kids think of me just as part of their room. It always makes me think of Jane Goodall and her chimps (not that I’m comparing the people to animals, just the immersed situation…).

Seeing Bazan’s work has made me want to revisit my Cuba negatives, it may be time to reprint some of those guys! It also makes me want to go back; well my desire to return there has never really gone away. Next visit I would want to be there longer and be more bold about taking pictures of people. I have to get over the fear of being intrusive and just ask! Only in this way will I be able to get the shots that I really want—those personal up close portraits. This pertains not just to Cuba, of course, but in all my projects, the current one included. Even though I know the kids aren’t bothered by my being there, I still am sometimes uncomfortable with just taking photos of people. I know I really need to work on this if I want to be successful.