MEG member Karen Keating shares some thoughts about Cuba Revisited, her new show featuring portraits of people in a changing and challenging place.
Last spring, you made your third trip to Cuba, but the first in eight
years. What felt the same and what felt different when photographing on the
streets?
The streets of Havana seem busier, especially in the central part of the
city. Tourists are the most visible -- traveling in groups, gathering as tour guides with
umbrellas explain a building, an historical event or
answer questions. This kind of group travel was not common in 2000 or 2001. The tourists are
from all parts of Europe and the world except the United States.
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| (c) Karen Keating |
In Old Havana, my favorite part of the city, there are new
restaurants in the Plazas, more renovating and a subtle feeling that a kind of
gentrification is occurring as well as displacement. The exuberance that I felt during my first few trips as I watched
the daily unfolding of Cubans' lives, their ability to embrace each day,
seemed missing.
Your portraits capture a sense of "watching and
waiting," which was the title of your prior book on Cuba. Do you feel the
emotion behind this watchfulness is the same today as it was during your prior
trips? This is conjecture, not fact, but
the emotion as Cubans watch and wait now seems to have an edge. Rules and
regulations, if not laws, seem to be shifting, and people are looking for
opportunities. Perhaps there is more intensity in their watching. I saw less
"celebrating" or living in the moment, especially in Havana. In Regla
and Matanzas, the pace of the day is slower and the number of visitors watching the
Cubans is less and the people feel less watchful.
Many of your portraits are close up and personal. How do you
make your subjects feel comfortable? How much do you interact with them before
shooting? How long do you spend shooting each subject? I do not have a prescription for my street
portraits. I "hang out," I stay in one spot, wander slowly, watch the
flow of activity and people. I use a noisy camera that makes it obvious that I
am taking photos. I watch their body language, trying to see an opening maybe
just a smile, a "may I take your photo?" I have Spanish phrases, but
no real Spanish language ability. I NEVER take a photo if a person says no. I
never use telephoto lenses. I have
no idea how long I take with a person; I try to leave my watch in my room and
just let the day unfold. In this series from spring 2011, I spent time in some
people's homes because we were working with Cuban photographers, but the majority
of these images are from the street.
When you're walking through the streets, what draws your
attention? In Cuba, the people, their interactions, their
activities, their environment and certainly the quality of the light and
shadows are the elements that grab my attention. I am not a fast, quick shooter; I guess like the Cubans, I watch and wait, too. I never go out with a script,
a plan. However, having been to Cuba five times, I am trying to think more
conceptually -- what are the recurring themes, the connections? Finishing a portfolio or set of images
allows me to reflect, pull together my thoughts making me eager to return.
You typically shoot only in film, but also brought a digital camera on this trip so you could easily review images with other photographers. When shooting digitally, did you find yourself being less deliberate
about what you chose to shoot vs. when you shoot film? Shooting with a digital camera made me a little crazy, less
focused, sloppy at times. I was eager for feedback from the photographers
during the trip, but I am not sure that it was valuable during the shooting
process. There are five images in
this exhibit shot digitally -- at least three of those I could not have taken with my film
equipment. The boxing arena was great fun digitally! Then there is the issue of the square vs. rectangle
composition. I do not like cropping later.
Are you done with Cuba or is there more you'd like to
explore?
No, I am not
"done" with Cuba. I continue to find connections between what I shoot
in Cuba and my personal concerns. The texture of Cubans' lives, the challenges,
the humanity of each day continues to resonate with me. I want to spend more
time in other areas of the island, travel slowly. I especially liked the
tobacco-growing area, Vinales.
What's next for you? Next, right now, is an Easter trip to Sicily with Ernesto Bazan
who became my inspiration in Cuba. He is a phenomenal photographer of Cuba.
Being Sicilian, he found Cuba was a connection to his homeland and I would like
to see this unique island before returning to Cuba!
A reception for Cuba Revisited will be held Sunday, March 4th from 12:30-2:30 pm. A light brunch will be served. Keating will also give an Artist Talk on Thursday, March 15th from 7:00-8:00 pm.
Interested in the emergence of the iPhone as a tool for artistic expression? Head to the Torpedo Factory for the opening of Diverging Mediums: Photography vs. iPhoneography, a new exhibit from the Target Gallery. MEG members Michael Borek, Karen Keating and Maureen Minehan each have work in the show, which aims to raise discussion on
iPhoneography, a movement that is transitioning from solely a social
media into a fine-art form of its own right. Fifteen digital or film photographs of established fine-art photographers, including Michael, Karen and Maureen, are juxtaposed with fifteen iPhoneographs, the majority of which come from P1xels, a photo group that uses the iPhone as their chosen vehicle of self-expression and creation. 
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