ON THE ROAD: CUBA
“As a South American living in the United States, I do not feel that I am in the position to judge the Communist regime of today, so my approach is through observation of and identification with the people living within it. In that regard, this series is not a political statement, yet is reflective of a revolution that became a political project that failed greatly to deliver individual freedoms.”
In his latest series of photography, On the Road: Cuba, Lamarca combines intimacy of subject with diversity of perspective in order to peel back sociological layers and reveal instances of unmediated human experience. Lamarca’s photographs delve into the labors of everyday life in Havana, Cuba, establishing the rhythms of life the way we understand the world: as a web of associations; not as it’s so often dramatized or oversimplified, but as it is lived. The resulting images depict subjects that feel simultaneously unique and universal, unfamiliar yet recognizable.
Growing up in the Argentinian countryside, the ocean has always been a part of Lamarca's life and to this day he finds himself most at ease in coastal regions with access to the sea, ports and places of exchange. By setting man against the background of a world he understands intimately, he is presented with the tools to examine the human condition through the subject he is photographing. Allowing the viewer to fill the gaps left by his omissions with their own feelings and experience the physical image provides a vehicle for the interpretation of the nature of man's existence, and we begin to see the ways our lives can blur into the lives of others. Sequenced images act as windows into the humanity of that which may be “other” in order to recognize reality as a construction. Each window is a different layer, a different view of a specific moment, and together provides a glimpse into the lives of the Cuban people, who despite living without individual freedoms and amongst deteriorating buildings, the essence of their unique and vibrant spirit as a community is always withstanding.
INSTALLATION VIEWS
THUMBNAILS
