Sylvia Aruffo – Viva La Revolución

Description

In this portrait, I have tried to capture the resourcefulness and humor of the Cuban people, coping with extreme deprivation and limited opportunities.

Here, the woman celebrates throwing off the dictatorship yet reserves a sly grin in recognizing that “freedom” is not all one might imagine. She’ll have food on the table tonight, but her mouth is toothless. She can read and she receives excellent medical care, but the wood is rotting on her hand-made home.  I have introduced family and friends to Cuba through several cultural exchange trips, startling them as the experience shatters their mistaken impressions of the island and its people. Being fluent in Spanish and French has allowed me to seek out subjects, like this woman, who live in a remote villages—this lady is just steps from the coast where Christopher Columbus landed in October of 1492.