Cuba: Picturing Change

With insightful essays-in English and Spanish-from Louis A. Pérez Jr., America's preeminent Cuba scholar, and Ambrosio Fornet, renowned Cuban author and screenwriter, Cuba: Picturing Change introduces the work of photographer E. Wright Ledbetter, whose images create a captivating portrait of the remarkable Cuban culture as it faces the complex forces of change.

Made from visits to Cuba over a four-year period (1997-2001), Ledbetter's photographs take us on a compelling journey within a culture pressured by numerous internal and external difficulties, where the resulting climate is saturated with the tension and uncertainty brought on by a political and economic future that continues to evolve with no clear direction.

Graphically alluring and rich in metaphor, Ledbetter's photographs focus on the overwhelming power and spirit of the Cuban people. They also explore what he believes is an imminent Cuban culture shift and inevitable redefinition of Cuban identity.

As Ledbetter's visual narrative unfolds, however, the photographs begin to reveal a greater depth and mystery, framed by the honest eye of a humanist and the compassion and perspective of an artist. <\p>

Cuba is a setting in which the questions surrounding its future become the questions all cultures face as social systems-political, economic, and otherwise-help shape human experience.

The photographs and essays of Cuba: Picturing Change emerge as a beautiful, balanced, and inclusive body of work. They capture one view of Cuba on the cusp of centuries, and at the same time explore the timeless art of human perseverance and the powerful current of the ever-changing human story.

Library Journal

Award-winning photographer Ledbetter, who spent four years capturing the people of Cuba in their everyday life, here portrays the essence of the average Cuban at a time of change. Ledbetter uses a rich array of tonal grays and blacks to create an engaging mood, and the texture and detail of the photographs, as well as the dramatic framing or camera angles, give personality to otherwise ordinary scenes in streets, alleyways, barbershops, and homes. There are no pictures of tourist sites here. The photographic images are presented alongside essays, in both Spanish and English, by P rez and Fornet, both authors of books on Cuba's history and customs. The essays not only expound upon the photographic images but elaborate on the historical, cultural, political, and economic conditions, showing how the lives of ordinary citizens have been marked by the revolution, the Soviet influence, and the embargo. This well-written, attractive coffee-table book is recommended for larger public libraries.-Karen MacMurray, Cape Coral P.L., FL Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

E. Wright Ledbetter is an award-winning photographer who lives and works in Rome, Georgia.

Louis A. Pérez Jr. is the J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author and editor of many books on Cuban history and culture including On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture.

Ambrosio Fornet is an internationally acclaimed Cuban writer and critic, and author and editor of several volumes on Cuban culture.