Tria Giovan: The Cuba Archive: Photography from 1990s Cuba Hardcover – November 7, 2017

I know Cuba well, not as well as Tria Giovan, but well. This interesting book is for those intensely interested in Cuba and the "Special Period", a time that fascinates me. The people of Cuba were in dire straits with little food and pretty much nothing else. And yet they survived. A downside to this book is that the author does not have an photographic index or explanation of the images--which most photographers spend time organizing for the reader. Where she was when she shot the image, why she thought a particular image was worthy of telling the story of the "Special Period in a time of peace", why did a particular person strike her as emblematic of this time in Cuba. In my opinion, if the author had done an index, this would have been a better book. that being said, for those intensely interested in Cuba, you will enjoy Giovan's work.

Very interesting... beautifully printed; I would have liked more commentary.

amazing book.

Beautiful photography.

Tria Giovan visited Cuba several times in the 1990s and the 120 photos in the book have been selected from the thousands she took during these visits. The photos, now some years old, have assumed a slight green and ochre cast which gives them extra credence as historical evidence.Giovan went out of her way to capture the everyday, interiors of houses, doorways, a kitchen and bathroom, lounges, bedrooms, queues outside an ice cream kiosk, inside a hairdressers, getting on a bus, kids playing in a park, relaxing on a beach and lots of street shots showing the crumbling infrastructure, years old paint, broken windows with tape over the cracks (several of these).I thought this was an excellent selection of Cuban photos from the recent past though I wonder how much of this has changed since the photos were originally taken, Cuba imports between 70% and 80% of its food (amazing for what is essentially an agricultural economy) the US prevents the country from joining the IMF or the World Bank so cheap loans to the state aren't available, rationing persists with some food essentials costing virtually nothing though expensive when bought in a local farmer's market. The difference between Cuba and other central American countries is the absence of huge wealth for some and poverty for the majority.My only criticism is that none of the photos are captioned, were the street scenes taken in Havana, Santiago de Cuba or maybe Camaguey, where was the cinema on page 40 or the train going to on page 159. Despite this minor point I found it an interesting photobook. The presentation is straight forward with one photo a page and well printed by Damiani on matt art paper with a 300 screen.This book of photos is a worthwhile look back at one countrie's attempt at equality for all and despite the odds still struggling on.