Dystopia | Apartment Entrance in Backstreets

Habana Vieja | La Habana Cuba | 2012

Dystopia is not only about the exploration of ruined buildings and landscapes, it also poses questions of precocity and the delicate subsistence of people all over the world. On a trip with my family in 2012, shortly after the birth of our daughter, we explored the back streets of La Habana to capture the essence of that city. This image is emblematic of the precarious living and  complex textures that abound in La Habana, and Cuba in general: the marginal electrical system, years of peeling paint and worn but functional systems that  contribute to the ingenious skills of Cubans in maintaining their infrastructure in a workable state. These dystopic states are always in flux: with the opening of the floodgates to Cuba in the years to come, La Habana will no doubt be drastically modernized and changed forever...