|
Our Man in Havana
The title of John Comino-James' third book is taken from Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana, a small neighbourhood of which city the photographer has been documenting. Greene asserted that despite the size and sprawl of a city, for the individual it “consists of no more than a few streets, a few houses, a few people.” For Comino-James this microcosm is the small Cayo Hueso neighbourhood of Havana, the capital city of Cuba. Cuba - and Havana in particular - has become increasingly popular as a holiday destination and is much photographed. Indeed, as Lee Frost alludes in this issue, enthusiasts sign up for photographic tours of the place, the faded grandeur of the architecture and easy street life irresistible to the first-world lens. Comino-James himself describes the experience as walking “in thoroughfares where the eye is easily seduced”. His “few streets” are not the Havana of the tourist: the streets remain the preserve of those who live there, the images are made in black and white, and when photographing the people he is among them, not sneaking a snap from across the street. Unusually for a photographer Comino-James can also write. His afterword essay illuminates his photographs, throwing light on the everyday tableaux he has recorded and confirming that indeed the whole world is to be found in these few streets. Not only is the writing lucid but - again surprising for a photographer - the essay is long and provides much historical context, which in turn informs the images. It is fair to say that Old Havana has suffered from photographic overexposure in the last several years, but John Comino-James' “few streets” remain authentic and fresh, if a little tattered - for the moment at least.
The book's texts are in English and Spanish, so you will probably be able to pick up at copy at the Tourist Information Centre when you're over there with your camera! It is casebound, well printed in duotone and a snip at £19.99.
A Few Streets, A Few People, by John Comino-James, is published by Dewi Lewis Publishing, £19.99, ISBN 1-904587-34-8.
|
|
|
