Place
Havana, the heart of it all. A city with crumpling 1950’s buildings, vintage Buicks, and upscale restaurants nestled in Old Havana. Here you will find a bustling theatre scene, elaborate gardens, and eccentric patterns and prints reminiscent of the 60’s. Ernest Hemingway’s former villa lies on the outskirts of the city in which he wrote The Old Man and the Sea. Take a walk around the city plaza and visit the capital building, along the way you will pass rickshaws bumping through narrow streets by outdoor fruit markets and food stands selling churros. Havana is a place with fading bright colors, loud boisterous music, and strong Cuban espresso. A place where the 50’s and 60’s are still present and yet will quickly fade into the distant past.
Record
internal / external
Cuba
digital vs. analog HMC Xref Journey 2015
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My trip will be documented through a series of photographs, videos, and stories of locals. My purpose is for this trip to be more than artistic photographs or a Wikipedia article, rather how life can be more intriguing and personal through the experiences of those you meet along the journey. Essentially, the trip will be told through the lens of local Cubans, myself as the narrator. I want to use technology as the tool and device it should be rather than a means of self-interaction. My goal is to communicate to my colleagues how we can be internally quiet in an demanding external world.
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educational
Observe
What I experienced in adolescence, analog to digital, an entire country is about to experience on a national scale - a country that hasn’t changed since 1960. And I want to see it before that happens.
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Imagine for a moment that digital technology doesn’t exist yet. Your inbox isn’t filled with hundreds of unread emails, GPS isn’t updating you with the latest traffic on your commute home, and Facebook friend notifications aren’t pinging for your attention. Rather there is silence - the digital noise has ceased. Instead, imagine libraries filled with card catalogues, home movies recorded on magnetic tape, and the occasional ring of a home phone in the kitchen. Do you remember this world? It wasn’t long ago. In 15 years our world transformed from analog to digital. Childhoods have changed, how we communicate changed - we have changed. I remember this former analog life. I grew up during the cusp of the digital age, listening to cassette tapes and constructing tree-forts over lazy summer days. At thirteen I got my first iMac and began to embrace the digital revolution. I remember an idyllic childhood without iPhones, yet as an adult can appreciate the effectiveness and ease of technology. There is a country suspended in time that will shortly encounter the true meaning of the 21st century.
Cuba - a country currently frozen in analog time. Cuba is relatively untouched since 1960 due to the US economic embargo established by John F. Kennedy. And yet a country steeped in a rich culture, Art Deco architecture, and original 1950’s Chevys. On July 20, 2015 President Obama officially reopened diplomatic relations with the country. It is now legal (and easy) to travel to Cuba. My trip to Cuba would be an educational journey and would require documentation of such endeavors.
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compare / contrast
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Purpose digital / analog
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1 960
Untouched