Race in Cuba: Images of Cuban Life

Scenes from the lives led by black people on the island, shot by native son Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo.

• 

  1 of 23

  Havana City

  Resting with cigarettes and rum in Lawton, a neighborhood in the southeast outskirts of Havana. The flag mural belongs to the international community arts project "Muraleando."

• 

  2 of 23

  Dancing in the Street

  Professional folkloric dancer practising in the La Rampa sidewalks (23rd Street, El Vedado).

• 

  3 of 23

  Old Havana

  A painful daily trip through Obispo boulevard in Old Havana, collecting objects from the street.

• 

  4 of 23

  A Helping Hand

  In the overpopulated, poorer city areas, it is a common Cuban practice to talk to neighbors over balconies, offering--or asking for--some coffee or a pinch of salt. 

• 

  5 of 23

  Modern Style

  High school students from Marianao municipality. Official uniforms are usually "modernized" by adding rings, chains, belts, etc.

• 

  6 of 23

  Trash Is Treasure

  This lady is looking for trash treasures left by tourists in Mercaderes Street, Old Havana.

• 

  7 of 23

  Cafe Lamparilla

  Young waiter from Café Lamparilla of Old Havana taking a break outside the restaurant. 

• 

  8 of 23

  Cruising Through Cuba

  Skateboarding is a regular practice all around the Capitol building, now just a tourist area between between Central Havana and Old Havana.

• 

  9 of 23

  Cuban Film

  Professional boom-man during a video shoot for the Cuban TV and Radio Institute (ICRT).

• 

  10 of 23

  Tee USA

  Imported T-shirts promoting the U.S. are as common now as they were forbidden years ago.

• 

  11 of 23

  Havana Bay

  Pausing after a summer dive in the famous--and highly polluted--Malecón, near the entrance of the Havana Bay. If you look out in the water, you can see that it's completely covered in an oily substance.

• 

  12 of 23

  Explosión Suprema

  Rappers from the band "Explosión Suprema," performing at the censored Poetry Festival from OMNI-Zona Franca project (December 2010), in a private home in Alamar.

• 

  13 of 23

  The Face of Poverty

  Beggar asking for money in Saint Raphael boulevard for "paying" a promise to Saint Lazarus on Dec. 17.

• 

  14 of 23

  Paying a Promise

  A sleeping pilgrim "pays a promise" on the porch of Our Lady from Carmen Church, in Neptuno and Infanta corner, the border between Central Havana and modern El Vedado.

• 

  15 of 23

  Luyano Avenue

  Young boys traveling outside a full-speed crowded P1 public bus in Luyanó Avenue, an impoverished Havana area near La Virgen del Camino park.

• 

  16 of 23

  Let It Rain

  Adolescents flirt under a pouring spring rain, near Trillo Park in Havana.

• 

  17 of 23

  Freedom of the Press

  Re-selling newspapers isn't legal, but local police usually ignore it. 

• 

  18 of 23

  Unidad!

  Political propaganda reaches every space of Cuba, with delirious messages that nobody seems to read: "Against Yankee and European Community interfering, united!" (Infanta Avenue near Zanja Street).

• 

  19 of 23

  Matanzas City Bay

  Playing happily in the artificial beaches of Matanzas City Bay.

• 

  20 of 23

  Literary Cafe

  Literary Café at the corner of 23rd and 12th Streets of El Vedado. 

• 

  21 of 23

  San Carlos Valley

  A farmer from San Carlos Valley in the far-west portion of Pinar del Río province, where electricity is still lacking in many houses.

• 

  22 of 23

  El Vedado

  Old man watching the traffic in the downtown neighborhood of El Vedado.

• 

  23 of 23

  Waiting

  A boy resting thoughtfully in the parking lot  of Hermanos Ameijeiras National Hospital in Havana.