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Shannon and Keith Wedding

My mission comes with a story;

While on a trip to Cuba I met a Dutch photography student on assignment. His assignment was to capture the “Real Cuba”. Easy said I on initial impulse. However as we got further into the discussion I learned the magnitude of this assignment.

The real Cuba is the one the two week visitor seldom sees. Questions like what makes a people that bear many secrets come out in public with smiles and warmth came to mind, what do they keep hidden from us the visitor? In short what goes on behind closed doors?

I decided to adopt this assignment while on my own travels. It was a fantastic trip laden with amazing experiences. Upon returning home I poured over hundreds of images to complete my assignment. Sure I got the churches, the old cars with the youth in the picture, the old man on a donkey, Capitolio and the Havana theater, they told a great story of the country past and present, however they were not in my mind the “Real Cuba”. What was I looking for? Happy as I was with my effort both artistically and technically, I achieved that goal, but not the last step. Tough to find what you are not too sure what it is that you are looking for. Which one of hundreds of pictures talked to me. Bear in mind I set rather lofty goals for my self. Then voila! Out she jumped, she did it, she answered my question with a hundred other questions, there was no answer, it was to remain a mystery. Why do so many people communicate from their windows and doorways, what is it like behind them? Who are they? My answer, a nation that have learned to embrace life, put your best foot forward sort of thing, a resilient resourceful people who will keep the secrets to themselves and show the rest of the world the best they can. Fait accompli!

What does this lesson do for me as a photographer today? First of, to search my subject thoroughly, what more can I do to show the real them, Let them be them, make suggestions but not rules, is the subject being true rather than what I think the subject should look like, fluffy props and fake stands are they really necessary? Does the background do the subject justice? Interaction with the subject deserves more effort than pressing the shutter. Then finally, what do they want me to know, see and capture?