“The hot blazing sun won’t hurt my head, ’cause you’ll always find me right there in the shade” That’s a line from the song Bad Boy by The Jive Bombers. Relevant here, only because it describes the hot blazing sun, that gives this series of photographs their light. And by contrast the shade, that creates some sanctuary in the heat and censors the sunlight. It must look very different In Cuba during the rainy season. Most people here, it seems as an outsider, have very little of anything. Despite this it is not an empty or dull place. Amidst the clichés of old american cars and Havana cigars are the Cuban people as seen in these photographs, living out their lives with a striking mend and make do attitude – it’s a wonderful place, to take photographs. But life in Cuba is not always a pretty picture, and it constantly challenges the voyeuristic gaze.
John Spencer Photographs 