Cuba In Waiting: a photographic essay

Abstract

Film maker, photographer and University professor, Erik Knudsen was invited to see Cuba ‘before Fidel Castro died’. That was in 1998 and Castro (albeit ghosted by his brother Raul) is still, very much, alive. Knudsen’s thoughtfully constructed, colour-bleached photographs have been amassed over the last four years and depict a string of poised yet static incidents in bars, paddocks and arenas across Havana Province. While acknowledging the genuine reverence that Castro commands, Knudsen also lays bare the poverty and repression that hold a renownedly educated and energetic people in check. “Everyone”he says, “is waiting for change”.