CUBA no filter
Marvel through the photographer’s lens at the colorful cultural treasures of a country time forgot.
EDITED BY KASIA PAWLOWSKA • PHOTOS BY JACK WOLFORD
Candy-colored vintage cars, crisp rum, bold Spanish colo-
nial architecture, a commercially viable Marxist icon, and of course, cigars—all hallmarks of a seemingly far-flung locale that rests several hundred miles off the coast of the United States. In the wake of the Cuban missile crisis and the 1963 travel restrictions imposed by President John F. Kennedy that followed, the Cuban nation has been often romanticized yet remained shrouded in mystery for most Americans until very recently. Cuba is a land of paradox. It’s a developing country with a near-perfect literacy rate that’s brimming with underpaid doctors who moonlight as cab drivers. Here, greasing palms for better treatment is merely handling things Cuban style, a lo Cubano, yet security cameras on streets are plentiful, and as of late August 2018, the U.S. State Department softened the travel advisory for Cuba, moving it from level 3 to 2, placing it with countries like France, Denmark and the U.K., among others. There was an influx of American tourism after President Barack Obama loosened business and travel restrictions in 2015, though visitor levels have significantly dropped off after President Donald Trump reversed them. But it is still possible to visit the country. Prospective travelers can register for a special license with the U.S. government if the reason for the trip fits a certain category—these include family visits, professional reasons, journalism, religious or cultural programs, and humanitarian projects. The broadest
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category that can currently be used to travel independently to Cuba is “support for the Cuban people.” Visitors will need to abide by the regulations and participate in activities that are in the spirit of the category, such as dining in paladares (private restaurants) and staying in casas particulares, which are private family residences similar to bed-and-breakfasts. And about the rum and cigars? United States residents can still legally bring back as many as 100 Cuban cigars and one liter of Cuban rum. “I’d always wanted to go to Cuba—it was a full-on bucket list destination for me,” says Mill Valley, California–based photographer Jack Wolford. When an opportunity to join a group of travel photographers who were going to explore and document the country presented itself, it seemed like the chance of a lifetime. Wolford visited numerous locales, from bustling cities to bucolic countrysides, and even spent time with Alex Castro, Fidel’s son. “Just being in his presence was pretty interesting. You get the sense of being with someone that’s been witness to some real history,” Wolford says. “Alex is a photographer as well and has a couple of books published, one being a behindthe-scenes perspective of all the world leaders his dad met and spent time with. It was an amazing insight into global politics.” Here Wolford shares some images from the trip.