Book review of “Chance and Desire: Havana in Black & White.”
I traveled to Cuba on a three week intensive cultural and educational tour in 2016 after Obama had opened it up for these types of tours but not yet American tourism. Europeans, Canadians and people from most other countries had been visiting Cuba all along and it had a robust tourist trade already established without Americans.
We stayed at nice hotels and ate dinner at private restaurants but changed locations every few days to see as much of the island as possible, from cities to beaches to farms and mountains, meeting experts at each place who lectured, discussed and shared information about life in Cuba. Our tour guide used to give tours for U.S. Senators and Congressmen and was well versed in Cuban history which he shared as we were traveling from place to place.
We got to see many towns and villages and a good look at local life, not just resorts and fancy restaurants. In fact it is the local life and warmth of the people that I found the most interesting, despite living in hardship (but free health care and education). Their life expectancy is the same or better than ours. Their crops are all organic.
I treasure the memories of that trip and was so delighted to find this book of photographs by TK Hernandez. The images are taken in black and white street photography style, expertly capturing a fleeting instant, which gives each one a deep emotional power and evokes the same feeling as when you see a fine painting and find extra meanings in the details and expressions. Most of all it puts me back at once in that mysterious and wonderful place that I visited six years ago that tourist photos of Cuba fail to do. She has a genuine heartfelt connection to the place, obvious in her photographs, that I am so happy and grateful she has generously shared. I will treasure this book and can‘t wait to share it with my friends. It is a beautifully artistic view of a real side of Cuba that distills the magic of the place and it‘s people and will bring back the emotions I had when visiting there whenever I open it up. I just bought another copy as a gift to our friends who accompanied us to Cuba.