Los Cubanos (Searching for Cuba's Soul)

Journey into the soul of Cuba!

Cuba is one of the most enticing, exotic, and romantic places that photographers can hope to find. The lucky ones get to spend a week or two just in Havana, while others go on day-trips to the tobacco farms in the Valle de Viñales, or take a tour to the eastern tip of the island to visit Santiago de Cuba.

But photographer Volker Figueredo-Véliz wanted to dive into the authentic, local routine of everyday Cuban life. He lived in Havana’s old town and explored the city on foot with his camera every day for months. He had already photographed Cuba’s clichés years ago, so this time he was on the lookout for fresh images of a different, more enigmatic Cuba. In short, he was searching for Cuba’s soul.

He took every day as it came, and had no plan or specific goals. Every day felt like a series of stories that unfolded before his eyes. These were tiny, trivial events, everyday scenes, and quiet, poetic moments alongside unexpected, quirky, and sometimes crazy episodes.

Featuring an introduction by Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony DePalma, Los Cubanos is a beautiful collection of black and white images, along with the stories behind the photographs, that Figueredo-Véliz’s camera froze in time in a fraction of a second, and that come back to life in this book.