James Clifford Kent is a London-based photographer who lectures on visible tradition at Royal Holloway, College of London. He explores methods of telling tales about folks utilizing portraiture and social documentary. Over the previous 20 years, he has travelled usually to Cuba for photographic tasks, along with his work being revealed internationally.
Supper throughout a blackout, Cabaiguán.
Younger road vendor, Havana, Cuba.
How does the ambiance in Cuba affect the way you doc life on the island?
Individuals typically ask me what Cuba’s actually like – repeating the identical drained however widespread “frozen in time” delusion – whereas others ask how issues are altering on the island.
Cuba is certainly a novel place that operates in another way to many developed nations: collapsing buildings, failing infrastructure and the nation’s well-known almendrones (classic American vehicles) are a part of every day life for all Cubans. However, like different locations, time doesn’t stand nonetheless. Cuban tradition and society is continually evolving in response to issues taking place within the nation and all over the world.
Each journey there may be totally different, formed by the continued state of affairs and the challenges confronted by folks dwelling and dealing on the island.
Meals shortages, widening inequality and inflation, have seen Cubans not too long ago take to the streets of Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest metropolis. Cubans’ famed potential to “resistir y vencer” (resist and overcome) within the face of rising hopelessness and uncertainty has been sorely examined. Many bizarre folks I {photograph} speak to me about “la lucha” (the every day battle) and “la necesidad” (necessity) – themes explored in my ongoing long-form mission “¡No hay más na’!” (there’s nothing left), which captures folks dwelling on the margins of society.
65-year-old Caridad ‘Cary’ Ribalta Oviedo. She lives alone together with her animals in a former laundry run by her household – Chinese language immigrants from Guangzhou (Canton Metropolis) who settled in Cuba within the late nineteenth century.
A younger Cuban lady poses for a portrait in Centro Habana
14-year-old María and her husky Ori pose for a portrait on the best way dwelling from faculty in Centro Habana. We known as him “Ori” – brief for orinar (to urinate) – as a result of he pisses in all places.
Why was the Leica M11-P the best digital camera for this journey?
The M11-P is a dependable and resilient digital camera constructed for the difficult circumstances on a tropical island akin to Cuba. It’s properly suited to the kind of work I do, and its discreet look and quiet mechanical shutter means I can work rapidly and unobtrusively, specializing in the issues that matter: taking photographs and listening to folks’s tales.
Cuba is called a photogenic and vibrant nation, and the digital camera’s high-performance full-frame sensor and huge dynamic vary allow you to precisely seize a way of what it’s actually like. This was additionally the case when working in low mild circumstances, throughout rolling night blackouts within the countryside, once I knew I might belief the digital camera to seize detailed photographs. The digital camera’s built-in Content material Credentials – the inclusion of encrypted metadata in compliance with the Content material Authenticity Initiative (CAI) – is an necessary addition for photographers who’re seeking to inform genuine tales.
Pentecostal followers attend a full-immersion baptism
A lady prays on the seaside following a full-immersion baptism
Which M-Lens did you select and why?
On this journey, I used the Leica M11-P with a Summicron-M 1:2/35 ASPH. I’ve used some variations of this lens since I first began working with the M-System over 10 years in the past. It’s good for switching rapidly between capturing documentary and portrait-style photographs.
What are a number of the tales behind your imagery from this journey?
Returning to Havana at all times seems like going dwelling and I typically see folks I’ve photographed on earlier journeys. For instance, I’d simply arrived in Havana when some youngsters got here working in the direction of me. One in every of them was 4-year-old William – whose household I’d photographed a 12 months earlier dwelling in an deserted constructing. He jumped on me. He was out on the road promoting greens from a plastic crate with different youngsters from the constructing the place they lived. A tragic sequence of occasions meant William was born in a Russian jail shortly earlier than his mom was deported again to Cuba. Within the eyes of the authorities, he doesn’t exist. His mom instructed me: “Es un niño fantasma.” (He’s a ghost little one.)
8-year-old Nailan waits to spar within the coaching ring
14-year-old Felipe poses for a portrait in entrance of the coaching ring at José Alamo’s fitness center
One of many individuals who has featured usually in my NHMN mission is 65-year-old Caridad ‘Cary’ Ribalta Oviedo. She lives alone together with her animals in a former laundry run by her household – Chinese language immigrants from Guangzhou (Canton Metropolis) who settled in Cuba within the late nineteenth century. She stated, “I’ve plenty of recollections on this home. As a baby, I keep in mind taking part in right here after darkish and unusual issues would occur. My siblings and I might hear folks carrying buckets of water however once we regarded there was nobody there.”
On my remaining day in Havana, I observed a younger lady named María strolling her husky. My Leica cameras caught her eye and she stopped to speak, later posing for a portrait in entrance of a streetside café. She talked proudly about her canine, revealing: “We known as him Ori – brief for “orinar” (to urinate) – as a result of he pees in all places.” It was instantly clear that Maria and Ori adored one another, so I wished to seize that.
José Alamo (Boxing coach & fitness center proprietor)
Nailan (8 years outdated)
I additionally travelled past the capital to distant elements of the island’s south coast, photographing fishermen, boxers and guajiros (Cuban peasants) – every had a narrative to inform.
I’ve been photographing my buddies Osvaldito Ríos & Ava Álvarez on their household farm in a distant area of Sancti Spíritus for 20 years. The farm has handed down the generations. It was inbuilt 1917 with domestically sourced timber and, till not too long ago, was dwelling to a busy tobacco home (a barn used for drying tobacco leaves). Osvaldito’s latest well being struggles and the shortage of assist from native farmhands, the tobacco home fell into disrepair. Osvaldito instructed me, “We work exhausting to forestall infectious illness right here and preserve issues clear. However instances are powerful. Landowners are getting outdated and it’s like a ghost city. Many younger folks have left the island.” However regardless of this, Osvaldito – who turns seventy subsequent 12 months – has no plans to retire. He continues making milk and cheese on his farm and travels weekly to a close-by city to promote his produce. He stated, “It’s a quiet life within the countryside and – like my father earlier than me – so long as I’m nonetheless in a position to elevate a finger, then I’ll stick with it working.”
Osvaldito Ríos making cheese at his farm
Galleros (cockfight fanatics)
In direction of the top of my journey, I used to be speaking to some buddies close to the colonial city of Trinidad when immediately a gaggle of Pentecostal followers descended on a abandoned seaside for a full immersion baptism. It was surreal. I’d by no means seen something prefer it and acquired soaked attempting to get the image, but it surely was price it.
Cuba is a rustic the place you possibly can count on the surprising.
See extra of his work on Instagram right here and on his web site.