Cuba: through the #vintage glass – Intro
Cuba...a rare country for some people, an exquisite delight for others...The biggest island in the middle of Caribbean Sea, with a lot of beautiful beaches, warm people, excellent climate and with hundreds of years of, sometimes, misunderstood history...i call it: HOME.
My country was one of the first ones visited by early european conquerors back in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered it for the rest of the world:
This is the most beautiful land human eyes have ever seen!!!
...was the first phrase the Admiral of the Spanish Crown mentioned referencing to the lush vegetation, beautiful beaches and wonderful atmosphere he found when he touch, for the very first time, cuban shores.
And, not for being my home, but Cuba is a beautiful country indeed. Has changed with the pass of the years, as everything in the world changes as time passes, but that special touch, that special smell of being the very first one into impress outsiders have remained with the pass of the centuries. We´re more now as a result of a mix of spanish, african, arab, native and chinese people and we have less vegetation indeed, but Cuba still impress people coming here from all over the world.
With this series of articles dedicated to my homeland i wanna let you know my country´s history through the #vintage glass of photographers from different times who have had the honorable task of recording in a silver plate or photographic paper the wonders of this rare but beautiful island.
The photography in Cuba.
This series of articles are not intended to cover the history of the photography in Cuba but to cover the history of Cuba in old, rare and sometimes unknown vintage photographs.
But, as an article, would not been complete without a little and quick review of the history of cuban photograph...so here we go:
Photography came to Cuba back in the 1800´s century as an “imported article” from motherland Spain. Esteban Arteaga is the very first cuban photographer from wich there is some kind of official record and we found him publishing in “El Diario de la Marina”(one of the very first newspapers published in Cuba) the news of the opening of his own photographic studio in 1844, wich working object could not be other than daguerreotypes, first for interiors and studio photographs and later, for landscapes and more artistic ones.
From 1860 to 1900 photography process in Cuba takes the path of “reports photography” due to the high interest of people into seeing what was happening in cuban fields because of three wars fighted between Cuban Rebels and Spanish Army(1868-1878, 1879-1880, 1895-1989) and finally the Cuban-American-Spanish War.
From 1900 to 1940 photography in Cuba develops at huge steps: big photographic studios are built and in 1939 came into scene the first Cuban Photographic Club trying to gather the most prominent cuban photographers of that time.
Starting 1959 there is a change in whole life aspects for every cuban citizen: the war started in 1956 is over and Cuban Rebel Forces have defeated National Army...Cuban Revolution leaded by Fidel Castro begin it´s journey for history and photography will be there too to capture iconic moments of Revolutionary Leaders like Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara....years later the first color photos are already a reality in this country.
...from 1840 when Esteban Arteaga opens the first cuban photographic studio to the present days, cuban photographers have made a tremendous and laborious task capturing thru the lens the whole process of born and raise of cuban nationality...they still do...
Three iconic photos you should not miss!
As a warm start for my series of articles i propose you, dear reader, three iconic photos from two different moments of cuban history: two from the colonial era and one from the revolutionary years...ENJOY!!!
❶ “Cuba Libre!”
...or how America´s friendship with Cuba helped heal the scars of the Civil War...
Fig 1. “Cuba Libre”...the start of a beautiful friendship?
This photo was taken in 1898 mainly as propaganda for American-Spanish War. It was not a photo taken in Cuba as many people believe. It was taken in St. Louis City in a photo studio owned by photographer Fitz W. Guerin.
Published in America’s Yesterdays, p. 247, this photo became iconic over the years. By the time this photo was taken american society still have open wounds because of Civil War. Having a common enemy helped America recover from the negative effects Civil War had over social status, with Northeners and Southerners, White and African-Americans uniting to fight the Spanish. This conciliatory effect was promoted by photographs like this.
The iconic photo depicts two battle-hardened soldiers – one in Confederate grey, the other in Union blue – shaking hands. Between them, an angelic child, wearing a crown inscribed with “CUBA”, triumphantly presents her broken shackles. The scene celebrates America’s role in freeing Cuba from Spanish rule in 1898.
❷
Fig 2. USS Maine entering Havana Bay, January 1898
As tensions and severity of Spanish-Cuban War were rising US goverment decides to sent to Havana the USS Maine with the excuse to “preserve the life of US citizens visiting or residing in Cuba”. By January 1898 USS Maine makes its entrance to Havana with more than 300 officers and sailors.
At 9:40pm on February 15, 1898, the battleship U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana Bay, killing 268 men and shocking the American populace. Of the two-thirds of the crew who perished, only 200 bodies were recovered and 76 identified.
The sinking of the Maine was a climax in pre-war tension between the United States and Spain and cause the entrance of US Army into the Spanish-Cuban War.
The iconic photo you can see above was taken the very first day USS Maine entered Havana Bay by an unidentified photographer wich is supposed to be some photographer from some press agency of that time.
Fig 3. USS Maine after the explosion
❸ Ernesto “Che” Guevara Iconic Photo
Fig 4. Che Guevara iconic photo taken by Alberto Korda in 1960.
Perhaps the most known photo of this social and military leader. Who has not seen this photo before?
Born in Argentina, Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, wich was his real name(“Che” was a nickname), became a symbol of social revolution everywhere, mainly due to this iconic photo taken in Cuba in 1960 by the photographer Alberto Korda.
It has became one of the most reproduced images ever, rivaling with several other iconic images like Marilyn Monroe with her skirts flyin or the US sailor's kissing a nurse on Victory over Japan Day . This photo went viral long before the advent of YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. Korda’s Che has became the apostle of anticapitalism and the ultimate icon for peaceful social activists everywhere.
Perhaps the detail most people doesn't know is that picture is only a part of the real photo taken by Korda in 1960.
Fig 5. Real photograph of Che Guevara from which becomes the well-known image shown above.
The problem was that for advertising reasons it was necessary to cut it off...and and what a great cut, we must say!!!!
The cut off image(the most recognized part of the full picture) has been featured on almost every kind of media available: from posters to clothing, from miniatures to gigantographs and from flags to homemade ornaments, there has not been any media available has escaped the printing of this image over.
Final thoughts...by now...
This is the 1st part of a series of articles dedicated to my home country history. We will explore cuban's rich history through vintage photographs passing from Colony to Republic and then to Revolutionary era. We will showcase old and rare photograms and will research carefully on the history behind. Whenever is possible, we will try to give information about the photographer and the circumstances the photo was made.
Many more series regarding vintage photos who inmortalized weird and amazing things and their photographers are coming...just follow me to ensure don't miss even one of the articles that will be published.
So if you are an enthusiast of historical photograph and amazing discoveries do not forget to follow me at https://coil.com/u/deyner1984 because i will be releasing soon new and impressive contents about it!!!
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Photos were taken from:
* Wikimedia Commons
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After a lot of research i found on the Internet this awesome motion picture filmed in 1898 by an Edison Manufacturing Co. cameraman named William C. Paley commisioned to film the U.S. war effort against Spain in Cuba.
The short film shows the wreck of the battleship “Maine” in Havana surrounded by wrecking boats and other vessels.
...so far this is the only film existing from the wreck of the Maine other resources are just photographs.....enjoy seeing an authentic rare piece of historic short film!
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