Alex Diaz
Photography exhibition to feature images of daily life in present-day Cuba
St. Augustine, Fla. — Monarch Studio will host a photography exhibit and reception on August 4, where visitors will experience images of modern-day Cuba that reflect its insular communities, vibrant colors, restless residents, and rich culture- suspended in time through economic oppression.
The featured photography was taken by Alex Diaz, an associate professor of photography at the University of North Florida, and Zach Thomas, a regional commercial photographer, during a seven day trip to Cuba in May of 2017. The show, “Regarding Cuba: An Exhibition,” will be featured for one night only at Monarch Studio on Friday, August 4th from 6-9 p.m. This event will coincide with St. Augustine’s Art Walk, and is free and open to the public.
Longtime friends and collaborators, Diaz and Thomas were inspired to travel and photograph Cuba together, and to see and experience the country before it becomes westernized. Thomas observed, “Instead of seeing restaurants and stores on every street corner, there are just empty buildings, a simple home, or a sewing factory. I wasn’t ready for the lack of pervasive consumerism we are so used to here in America and most places abroad.”
“In essence, Cuba is a country of contrasts and contradictions,” according to Diaz. He noted that his pictures capture daily Cuban life, and the mundane—scenes of a man crossing the road or children playing soccer that, to Diaz, “create striking images of a culture many Americans are restricted from experiencing.”
The images featured in this show reflect their first impressions of a vibrant culture under the weight of longtime political oppression, and attempts to demystify the western romanticism projected by Americans on this island. According to Thomas, “How I experienced Havana was as a city struggling to straddle three worlds: pre-revolution Havana—a time capsule of 1959, a post-revolution socialist state, and a tourism mecca with unfulfilled potential.”
If you would like to exhibit Regarding Cuba: An Exhibition at your gallery, please visit www.themonarchcreative.com or contact Zach Thomas at 904-347-7616 or Alex Diaz at 904-814-7237.
Images are watermarked for protection, not necessarily ownership
Zach Thomas - Girl on a Phone
Zach Thomas - Birds of Havana
Zach Thomas - Scene on the Streets of Havana
