Cuba 2018
Storyteller: Anette Urbina, Mexico
What was the reason for your trip?
My dad traveled to Cuba as a student during the sixties and would always tell me these amazing stories about how beautiful the country is and how amazing and resilient its people are. So, it’s a trip I had been wanting to do for a really long time and since Cuba recently opened up its economy, I wanted to catch a glimpse of traditional Cuba before modernity took over. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to visit this past New Year, and it was one of the most amazing experiences I have had. I have started crafting a MILK Book for every trip me and my husband make. Cuba being such a beautiful and photogenic country, I knew I had to save the memories from our trip somewhere special.
What is your favorite image in the book and why?
My favorite image is the picture of Pedro (below), a tobacco farmer we had the fortune of meeting in Viñales, a region in rural Cuba. Here you can see Pedro smoking a cigar made with the tobacco he grew.
What is your favorite story behind a single shot in the book?
My favorite story in the book is the one of Pedro, the tobacco farmer. When we met him, he told us how he had been farming organic tobacco for more than 40 years and how he would wake up really early every morning, drink his cafecito, smoke a cigar and go to work to the fields. Even though, from our perspective, he might have seemed as someone who lived under very difficult circumstances, he just had this aura of happiness, peacefulness and pride in his work, that I have rarely seen in someone.
