Some photos from Cuba

Santa Clara
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[/url]Santa Clara, Cuba by

Santiago de Cuba....A supermarket's selection.
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba by

Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba by [/IMG
 
Ok. I'm hopeless with iPhone anyway. 🙂

The way they live is normal. We used to live like this in USSR. Until it was finished by the people's will. I'm still hesitant go where. Because I have been where, seen it, lived in it. Not just visited... But I knew at least one FSUs who loves Cuba for been FSU. He was living in Western Ukraine and never had lack of food.
 
james.liam said:
..... With all due respect to Bob Michaels' romance with "socialism".
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I am curious how you reach your conclusion. Yes, I live in Cuba part time with my family there. Yes, I am more than willing to share my knowledge of Cuban daily life and how things work there.

But, I have been very cautious for decades to not make any political comments or share my views of such on-line. I know better than not to get into any such discussions with strangers in this type of environment.
 
Michael, I love your compositions. But I am really looking forward to seeing your film images because I find some of the phone images to seem a little too digital/sterile. Not in content but in process.
What is strange is that most of them look fine. Must be the algorithms..
 
Huss said:
Thank you for that measured comment Bob, you are a gentleman.
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I couldn't agree more Huss.
Yes, these digital images from my phone look a lot different than what I usually shoot and post on rff. I had an iPhone 6s plus for the last couple of years and the camera got messed up years ago so I hardly ever used the phone to take photos, but I knew I was missing out. A week before my trip to Cuba, I bought a new phone and I was looking forward to using it for just snapshots. But, the more I got to use it in low light and in places that I wanted a wide lens, I started to discover that i could take photos with it that I couldn't take with the lenses and film speed that I brought with me.

I shot a lot of film with my 2 Leica m6ttl's but I used my phone a lot more on this trip compared to any other trip before. That said, I am curious to get my film back from the lab and see what I got. I do remember one instance when everything just lined up perfectly and I was able to get 2/3 shots off before the scene changed, but I remember being happy that I was able to capture it. The funny thing for me with film is, I think I know what I got when I am out shooting, but when I sit down a week or 2 later and look at the images on my computer, I discover a whole new world.

Havana
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[/url]Havana, Cuba by

Santa Clara
Santa Clara, Cuba by

Havana
Havana, Cuba by

cheers, michael
 
Nice work Michael - I especially like the very first group of photos.

I’d be curious to know how you made your way into people’s homes - did you just meet them randomly and start chatting with them (I assume you speak Spanish?) or did you know someone there who introduced you?
 
Vince Lupo said:
Nice work Michael - I especially like the very first group of photos.

I’d be curious to know how you made your way into people’s homes - did you just meet them randomly and start chatting with them (I assume you speak Spanish?) or did you know someone there who introduced you?
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Thanks a lot Vince. I just talk to people,ask and answer questions and things just usually work out. Every now and then things don't go so well but that's all part of it. I travel alone, I am non threatening to people and I just have a general belief that most people are good. Sure, most of the world is poor but that doesn't really play a part in what I do, I don't really think about it when I am on the road meeting people and taking photos. I learn a lot of interesting things from people and get a better understanding of how things operate in this world.

I know a couple of photographers in Havana and went out shooting with them, but they didn't really help me out in terms of access to people or places, I actually work better alone.

This guy was in a previous photo that I posted. I appreciated his hustle, he would take photos with his digital camera and then print out a photo from his mini printer on the spot. I ran into this guy couple of nights, but the 1st night I met him, I showed him some photos from Asia that I have in my phone. When he randomly saw me the next night, he wanted me to show his friend my photos too because he had told him that he met me the night before and told his friend about my photos. It was cool sharing photos with these guys, sure they take different photos than I do, but they were really interested in talking to me about some of my photos from around the world.
49369482071_e94071d7fa_c.jpg
[/url]Havana, Cuba by


Santiago de Cuba by

Santa Clara by

cheers, michael
 
Leica All Day said:
This guy was in a previous photo that I posted. I appreciated his hustle, he would take photos with his digital camera and then print out a photo from his mini printer on the spot. I ran into this guy couple of nights, but the 1st night I met him, I showed him some photos from Asia that I have in my phone. When he randomly saw me the next night, he wanted me to show his friend my photos too because he had told him that he met me the night before and told his friend about my photos. It was cool sharing photos with these guys, sure they take different photos than I do, but they were really interested in talking to me about some of my photos from around the world.
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Love this story, and really enjoying the photos, look forward to seeing more.
 
 
Vince Lupo said:
.....
I’d be curious to know how you made your way into people’s homes - did you just meet them randomly and start chatting with them (I assume you speak Spanish?) or did you know someone there who introduced you?
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I think Michael's great photos benefited not only from his talent but from his time living in the Orient. He understands other cultures and social norms vary greatly from what we experience in North America and Europe. He may not have known much about Cuba at the start but certainly understood that it may differ from what is normally expected.

Cuban's approach to be photographed and even allowing people into their homes to do so is quite relaxed. You don't wait for verbal permission there. You simply proceed while exuding confidence and normalcy. Simply being alert for a rare subject's discomfort is all that is needed.

I have found that my improved Spanish language skills over the years being in Cuba is more of a negative than a positive. No language skills keeps one from getting distracted by the verbal when the objective is visual. Besides, much more communication comes from the hands, eyes, and smiles than from the tongue.
 
Bob Michaels said:
I think Michael's great photos benefited not only from his talent but from his time living in the Orient. He understands other cultures and social norms vary greatly from what we experience in North America and Europe. He may not have known much about Cuba at the start but certainly understood that it may differ from what is normally expected.

Cuban's approach to be photographed and even allowing people into their homes to do so is quite relaxed. You don't wait for verbal permission there. You simply proceed while exuding confidence and normalcy. Simply being alert for a rare subject's discomfort is all that is needed.

I have found that my improved Spanish language skills over the years being in Cuba is more of a negative than a positive. No language skills keeps one from getting distracted by the verbal when the objective is visual. Besides, much more communication comes from the hands, eyes, and smiles than from the tongue.
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There is a lot of truth in what you said, Bob. I graduated in Cultural Anthropology and I have lived/worked/studied in numerous countries throughout Europe and Asia and I definitely know how to handle myself in other cultures and countries.

This lady was cleaning the sidewalk off after a sacrifice.
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[/url]Havana, Cuba by

Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba by

Havana
Havana, Cuba by

Checking out religious shops and the goods on offer.
Santiago de Cuba by

cheers, michael
 
Michael, your photos are fantastic. If your iPhone shots are this good, I can't wait to see what you've done with your Leicas.



Your photos have a very consistent look. Out of curiosity, what B&W settings or apps are you using to get this look?
 
AAlfano said:
Michael, your photos are fantastic. If your iPhone shots are this good, I can't wait to see what you've done with your Leicas.



Your photos have a very consistent look. Out of curiosity, what B&W settings or apps are you using to get this look?
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Thanks a lot. I just use 'noir' filter on my iPhone. On a couple of the photos I adjusted the contrast and/or shadows but most of the photos haven't been adjusted besides the 'noir' filter.

49381934763_256bcdc4c7_c.jpg
[/url]Santa Clara by

Santiago de Cuba by

Havana, Cuba by

cheers, michael
 
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