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SPOTLIGHT/ March 22, 2010
Cuba: Campo Adentro
Photographs by Susan S. Bank
Pepo and Chi-chi. Photograph by Susan S. Bank
In a valley on the western
side of Cuba, small farmers grow up to seventy percent of Cuba's cigar tobacco.
Located in the province of Pinar del Rio, the Viñales Valley covers an area of
approximately 50 square miles. Here farmers and their families work the land,
without the aid of modern farming techniques or equipment.
In 2002, American
photographer Susan Bank stumbled upon barrio Cuajaní, a small farming community
in the Viñales Valley, while taking a break from photographing in Havana. What
was originally meant to be a short side trip became a long and involved
personal journey, and she returned often over the next five years to photograph
ten of the families living and working in the valley.
 Bank's book, Cuba: Campo Adentro, shares with us the
everyday agricultural life of her ten "adopted families" in the valley. The
black and white images, taken with a Leica M6 and natural light, poetically
depict scenes of children playing, farmers tending to crops and animals, women
caring for their homes, and family members interacting. Many of Bank's
photographs intertwine the figures of the human inhabitants with the land,
animals, and objects in the images. A feeling of unity is created: unity of farmer
and land, unity of life and work, and unity of work and play. In "Tobacco
Birdman," a figure shrouded in tobacco leaves stands in the center of the image
against an ominous sky. Identity masked by leaves, the human figure has become
enmeshed with its surroundings, becoming one with the land. In "Hands at the
net," children play behind a netted fence. Only their small, uncalloused hands are
visible at the top of the net, pulling it down until the line is taut and
tense. Beneath the tension of the line, the ripped net flows in the wind like a
dusty cobweb.
Many of the images delicately
straddle a line between documentary and poetry. As Bank says in her preface,
she had to be careful to "guard against drifting into a romantic vision of a
way of life that on the surface appeared to be exotic and perfectly
harmonious." Beyond the poetry and romance of the images, there is a darker
current that runs beneath the surface. It is in that undercurrent that Bank was
successful in guarding her viewers from the romance to which she feared she
herself might fall prey. Cuban art critic Juan Antonio Molina, in his essay at
the end of the book, sums up this idea well with his insight: "[U]nderlying the
beauty of Bank's photographs I also sense the conflicts and frustrations
experienced by Cuban farmers struggling to subsist under precarious conditions.
Yet these photographs compel me to conclude that between the precariousness and
the poverty there is room for hope and vitality to survive."
The photographs in Cuba:
Campo Adentro were taken by Bank between the years 2002 and 2007. The book
is bilingual, and both the preface and Molina's essay are presented in English
and Spanish. Click here for more information about Cuba:
Campo Adentro.
Click here to view the exhibit.
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People of Cuba
Photographs by Jay Dorfman
Young Cuban woman in apartment, 2009. Photo by Jay Dorfman
In Havana, Cuba, unemployment is a way of life, and those
fortunate enough to have jobs rarely earn more than 30 dollars a month. Many
are forced into jobs way beneath their skills. It is not uncommon to find
doctors, lawyers, and other professionals driving taxis and engaged in
physically laborious jobs. And yet the Cubans remain resilient. They are
hospitable, open-minded, and eager to engage in conversation about their fates.
Click here to view the exhibit.
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Three Stage National Tour
Brought to you by Hasselblad and Resource Magazine
 Hasselblad and Resource Magazine are hitting the road
together to bring today's top photographic companies to photo communities
across the US. The Three Stage events will celebrate the release of
Hasselblad's new H4D line of cameras, and offer photographers a hands-on and
interactive experience with this and other selected equipment.
Attendees will be able to test the latest photography gear,
talk with company reps, and participate in demonstrations. Each event will
include "Three Stages," or three separate shooting spaces representing a
different field of photography (still life, fashion, and portrait), and will
end with a cocktail party.
New York City,
March 25, 2010
For additional locations and more information, visit
http://threestagetour.com.
Photo Awards, co-sponsored by Daylight Magazine and the Center for Documentary Studies
In recognition of their mutual interest in documentary and fine art photography, Daylight Magazine and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
have started an international competition, the Daylight/CDS Photo
Awards, to honor and promote talented and committed photographers, both
emerging and established. More >>
Exhibition catalog from SDN Call for Entries on global recession now available.
 SDN has just released the catalog of the winners from Crisis & Opportunity: Documenting the Global Recession. This full-color 32-page catalog includes a preface by Lori Grinker and a report on the global economic crisis by the Center for Economic and Social Rights, the co-publisher of this catalog.
$12.00 per copy. Purchase online.
SDN is seeking other venues for global recession exhibition
After the debut showing at powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn of Crisis & Opportunity: Documenting the Global Recession ends in mid-March, we are looking for other venues for the exhibition. Click here for information on the Call for Entries and exhibit. For more information or to inquire about a showing, contact Glenn Ruga.
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About SocialDocumentary.net
SocialDocumentary.net
is a new website for photographers, NGOs, journalists, editors, and
students to create and explore documentary websites investigating
critical issues facing the world today. Recent exhibits have explored
oil workers in the Niger River Delta, male sex workers in India,
Central American immigrant women during their journey north, and Iraqi
and Afghan refugees in Greece. Click here to view all of the exhibits.
Spotlight Credits
Editor: Glenn Ruga
Writer/Copy Editor: Jessica Hosman
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