Oso blanco cubano
(Cuban white bear)
color analog photos, 2007
The diptych of color photographs Cuban White Bear is part of a series of photos taken in the urban spaces of Havana in 2006.
This image of a white polar bear is the logo of a restaurant for Cubans, located in a popular street in central Havana. For this piece I took photos both from outside and inside the establishment.
My aim with this pair of photos of the same subject from both sides, is to allude metaphorically to the issue of racial difference in contemporary Cuban society. There are no bears in Cuba, still less white polar ones. But there is pride and privilege according to skin color and a new economy that seems to be leaving the black Cuban population out of its plans.