Cuba is one of the best places I’ve found for Street Photography. Lawn Chairs in Holguin Cuba is the first “On The Street” image posted to DavidKalbPhotography.com
Fresh off the plane from Miami, this was one of the first images from our February 2017 Cuban adventure. As I observed these two men walking towards me, I quickly adjusted my settings and shot from the hip. The lines and shadows, red and blue colors, and movement on the street add to the image. This photo is in the style typical of street photographers like Elliott Erwitt and William Eggleston.
This Cuba trip was before restrictions were reimposed on travel from the United States. We spoke with and met a number of Cuban residents and were surprised by what we heard and saw. It was not what I had anticipated. While a number of government restraints remained, we observed the beginning of some commercial freedoms. The freedom to open a bed and breakfast; the freedom to hire non relatives to work in a restaurant for example. Some people we met were very guarded in what they said, while others were more vocal and candid about Cuban life today. Certainly, life in general was not as bad as the “Special Period” experienced by the Cuban people decades before.
Cuba is a Street Photographer’s dream. Every town we visited lent itself to beautiful images of the Cuban people in their day-to-day lives.