Bob Michaels
nobody special
Banao, a very small farming community in Sancti Spiritus province, Cuba. I found the graveyard after asking someone if the footpath was the way out. My Spanish language skills are very limited and after taking the path, I begin to wonder if I had inadvertently asked if the path went to the bowels of the swamp. But I evemtually came upon this graveyard. I sat there by myself for about 15 minutes drinking it all in. Since I had been hitchhiking and on foot all day, all I had was a 35mm RF with a 28mm lens and lots of Neopan 400. It was one of those rare times when I wished I had my Mamiya 7, a longer lens, an orange filter and a tripod. I also though this was the first photo I had taken in a long time without a person in it. But I did with what I had.
The graves are small since the Cubans only bury their dead for two years. Then they dig them back up, repackage the bones in a small box and rebury them. People have told me that it is a gruesome process after only two years to decompose.
The graves are small since the Cubans only bury their dead for two years. Then they dig them back up, repackage the bones in a small box and rebury them. People have told me that it is a gruesome process after only two years to decompose.
