Walking Cuba slideshow

Slideshow of Richard Fleming '87's Cuba photos

A slideshow of Richard Fleming’s photographs that comprise a companion volume of photographs, The Road to Guantánamo, published by Commons. This is a companion volume to his book chronicling his journey walking through Cuba, Walking to Guantánamo. All photos by Richard Fleming.

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In Santa Isabel de las Lajas, a client gets a shave from a barber.

Richard Fleming: “I met Dagoberto Manzo in Matanzas, sitting on a stool in front of his house, sanding the neck of an acoustic guitar. You can see the sawdust on the floor. As soon as I expressed an interest in music, he put that job down and rushed into the house to get one of his prize creations, a double-necked tres and acoustic-guitar combo that he claimed is the only one of its kind in Cuba.”



Richard Fleming: “The santeros I met had almost no evangelical tendencies, but after suffering through many of my questions, Eduardo was kind enough to invite me to his home to discuss some aspects of his faith. The orishas, he explained, share human foibles and vices. Some like perfume, or wine, or a particular kind of cake.”

Richard Fleming: “Yerberos are ubiquitous professional herbalists, provisioning santeros and alternative medical healers alike. Many grow their own plants in riotous gardens that cascade down from stoops and awnings, the abundant greenery spilling out into the street serving as their own best advertisement. Others know where in the wilderness to go and collect the important fragrant herbs demanded by the orishas or prescribed to brew a calming tea or night-time sleep aid.”

Richard Fleming: "Pablo Milanes (who is unrelated to the singer of the same name) in his 'voodoo office.' Thousands of Haitians came to Cuba to cut sugarcane in the 1920s and 1930s, and many of them stayed; Haitian Creole is said to be the second language of Cuba."

Richard Fleming: "The endless vistas of Camagüey, Cuba's "big sky" country."

Richard Fleming: "A concerned grandmother, or maybe even great-grandmother, supervises the taking of a portrait in Trinidad."

Richard Fleming: "The rooftops of Habana Vieja."

"This lonely tree and vast tractor made for an irresistible socialist-realist tableau on a hillside in Matanzas."

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