Cuba: Campo Adentro by Susan Bank (May 13, 2010) 
(21 votes, average: 3.95 out of 5)
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Categories / Documentary Reportage / Human Interest / / Click here to open comments section, click again when done to close / 1 Comment
Introduction by Recommending Viewer
Rania Matar recommended Susan Bank to us. Matar: Susan’s images transcend place and time. Even though they were taken in a specific place at a specific time in a remote valley in Cuba between 2002 and 2007, they portray humanity at the core and the dignity and beauty of people living their daily lives very simply without the benefits of modern conveniences. Time seems to have stopped as simple gestures, fleeting moments, beautiful backdrops and daily lives are recorded with elegance and love by Susan throughout her images. Her intention is not to tell a story but to provide us with layers and nuances that speak to the universality of life and of the human condition in a way that we have often forgotten.
Susan lived with the families she photographed and built such intimate relationship with them that it appears she became one of them overcoming cultural and language differences. When one looks at those images, one cannot doubt the bond, trust and love that were created. Her work is elegant and her commitment to the people she photographs inspirational.
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Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
The “Cuba: Campo Adentro” series is an accidental discovery in 2002 as I traveled west from the Havana hustle, searching for a short weekend break in the beautiful valley of Vinales, Pinar del Rio province. I attended a cockfight high in the hills and the next day I followed a campesino home and felt I had entered a museum diorama.
I knew I must return and for the next several years I traveled several times each year to live and work with the campesinos and their families, who subsisted with no modern conveniences.
‘Campo Adentro’ is translated metaphorically as deep within the countryside. I had no intention to disturb life within el campo. Working from the raw, simple details, I set out to create out a poetic portrait of daily life of tobacco farmers and their families. I was particularly interested in their relationship with each other, their animals and their land.
The series spreads beyond the island of Cuba and represents the universality of basic agrarian cultures worldwide. In 2008 I published a book titled “Cuba: Campo Adentro” which was honored as one of “The Best Photography Books of the Year” PHotoEspana 2009 and “Best Books of 2009” Photoeye Books.
I was successful in getting the book past Cuban customs to deliver a copy to each of the families I had worked with.
General Statement I am a Philadelphia PA and Portsmouth NH based documentary photographer, and studied with Mary Ellen Mark, Graciela Iturbide and Constantine Manos at the ‘perfect point’ in my life at age 60. I am best described as a humanistic documentary photographer. I do not seek out the grand moments or grand events in life but prefer to work with ordinary people, those populations that might otherwise have been by-passed.
My method of working is on long-term projects: I am not a drive-by shooter. I have developed photo essays in the US, Mexico and Cuba. I work intuitively, directly from life. My tools are simple. I am a film photographer, working with a hand held Leica M6, a 28mm lens, using available light. I am presently editing more than ten years work of a Havana Cuba portfolio.
Susan Bank (1938) lives and works in Philadelphia, USA.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Martha Nova. Martha Nova said: Beautiful images of the campesinos from the remote depths of the Cuban countryside http://bit.ly/dxx3Nb #Cuba #Vinales #photojournalism [...]