Cuba

“If you want to understand Cuba, you have to live there.

And even when you live there, you will never understand Cuba.”

This is what I was told by several Cubans. The more we experienced Cuba, the more I believed them. The idiosyncrasies, contradictions, absurdity and lack of logic of so many aspects of Cuban life, laws and rules is overwhelming. And yet, fascinating.

Life in Cuba is not easy for the locals, most live in poverty. But their sense of community is wonderful to witness: if only we had a fraction of that in many of our cities, the world would be a much better place.

They have to queue for the basic goods, so many essential things are missing, they often ask for a pencil for their children. But they welcome you in their home, introduce you to their life and family. They always ask for a little help, and they are grateful for very little money or a few Paracetamol tablets.

It is a humbling experience and it makes you re-evaluate what we, in the developed world, have and enjoy. What the luck of the draw has given us and what has denied them. It makes you change perspective on our first world problems, what is really important in life.

Photographing Cuban life has been a wonderful challenge and a pleasure, and as soon as our time in Cuba was drawing to an end we were already planning when to come back. And so we did the following year, and still it wasn’t enough.

I can't wait to return again, see more of the island and get to know these wonderful people better.

This is my experience of the streets of Havana, Cienfuegos, Viñales and Trinidad in Cuba.