Explore the captivating essence of Cuba through the lens of Raúl Cañibano (b.1961, Havana) in The Photographers Gallery exhibition.
Raised in post-revolutionary Cuba and initially a welder by trade, Cañibano’s photographic journey began in 1984. Self-taught and inspired by the art books at Cuba’s National Library, Cañibano soon developed his own style, which he calls “somehow surrealist.” This surrealist sensibility appears in his playful use of scale, often contrasting uncannily close-up subjects with distant figures to evoke mysterious affinities and tensions. Everyday scenes take on poetic and mystical qualities tinged with a political edge.
Cañibano’s large, open-ended photographic essays that allow him to explore the complexity of urban and rural life in Cuba. Taking an anthropological approach, he documents a way of life that he believes will soon vanish. Having travelled extensively across the country, often living with his subjects for months at a time, Cañibano offers an intimate, often humorous or profound perspective on the island’s identity, providing a window into Cañibano’s Cuba, from the small farming communities of his childhood to the exuberance of Havana and the Malecón.
Raul Canibano: “My intent was to document a way of life that could fade as the years pass and the changes that are taking place as society develops…, to capture the nobility, familiarity, and kindness of the Cuban farmer.”
Details on the gallery website here
https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/raul-canibano-human-landscapes
The Photographers Gallert, 16-18 Ramillies Street London W1F7LW
Cuba 50 
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