Cuba Real-The Pearl of the Caribbean

People and Myths

”Everyone dreamed of Cuba,” once wrote the Cuban romanticist Miguel Barnet and still it seems that the dream isn’t finished. ”Discovered” on October 28, 1942 by Christopher Columbus and called ”Cubagua” from the native inhabitants, until today Cuba remains a passionate destination for travelers who are hungry for new experiences, and for whom the ”Pearl of the Antilles” is more than just another Caribbean island.

But what exactly is this ”More?” A tourist’s perspective is not enough to answer this question. Therefore, Tobias Hauser chose another road. Instead of the fly-by visit with the snapshot memory, he prefers to use the long exposure method. Many times every year, for weeks and months at a time, Hauser travels to Cuba and in every corner of this fascinating land he gets to know the other side of the mostly tourist-illuminated coin.

The Great Dream

Accompany Tobias Hauser by foot, bicycle, or hitchhiking to the most remote parts of the island. Traveling on a moped or rattling over steep slopes in foolhardy, soapbox-like ”Chibichanas,” resulted in unforgettable recorded impressions and encounters, which are reminiscent of Cartier-Bresson’s sense of the ”right moment.” The most astonishing part of his pictures from Cuba are foremost his-with an intensity, which is seldom seen-portraits of people. In these photos it becomes clear what makes Cuba’s ”Magic” substantial. It is a ”Magic of Nevertheless,” which allows many Cubans in the face of all personal and business injustice to remain comparatively relaxed: often cheerful, always melancholy, and ever with the present knowledge-”Tomorrow begins another new day.”