(LA HABANA IN ALT VIEW is a series shot under auspices of The Aspen Institute, Socrates Society.)
YES, 'CHE IS EVERYWHERE, BUT IN THE AIR ...NOT ON A T-SHIRT.
The story lines on Cuba (and on the capital, La Habana) seem to be worn translucently thin... to me. Even then, they defy logic and physics to remain opaque inhibitions to quotidian reality. I appreciate the truth that still manages to peek through the cliche "old woman with cigar:" She is still a person and still Cuban fabric. But, we've presented her so often fixed in that scene that I have never gotten to know much of her. On balance, trying too hard to avoid cliche is to get caught in the dense "anxiety of influence" that would leave me once again fiending for originality and ending up a gross recycler. So, I won't pretend a new picture, just my picture ...and only scratching a rhino with a feather, at that. I have, however, aimed for a new audience: Cuban people. What if I would make an image intended for their eyes, changing the consumption model ("us" seeing "them")? What if someone in La Habana could see the image and sense the nuance of a real and less politically exotic place? While there's not "old woman" here, there may still appear an incidental car, but I hope this vignette might reveal a couple of themes that walk toward the enigma that I felt in La Habana ...as I walked it, sensing an odd blend of resilience and resignation, both exceeded slightly by people "just living," as you imagine yourself when you're not an object.
Sans Anachronism La Habana, 2012
