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Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful pics
Review: A definite addition to any coffee table worth its cafe con leche
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Summary: An exciting look at Cuban photography
Review: As an American photographer who photographs in Cuba I found this book to be both visually exciting and intellectually stimulating. The more recent photographs are complex and sophisticated. The preface by Wim Wenders was especially moving. Wenders summed up my personal feelings about this tiny neighbor in a poetic and passionate way. This book has convinced me to travel to see the exhibition in person.
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Summary: PHOTOGRAPHS THAT SPEAK A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
Review: Explaining his concept for this absorbing collection of black and white photographs, Tim B. Wride, author and Los Angeles County Museum of Art Associate Curator of Photography, said "Shifting Tides" is intended to "expand the common perception of what Cuban photography is generally thought to be. That is, black-and-white, documentary reportage with a hint of magic realism, and replete with iconic images of Che and Fidel." Rather, Wide continues, there "is the broad range and inventive nature of work, both conceptual and visual, that has been and continues to be done on the island. The work is expressive, sophisticated, and firmly grounded in an international art dialogue." Covering 40 years of Cuban photography, the work is expressive, indeed. The volume may be roughly divided into three sections, one celebrating the work of such photographers as Enrique de la Uz, Ivan Canas and Jose Alberto Figueroa, who focused on the common man, workers, street scenes, and the marked changes found on the island. Another section emphasizes everyday life after the revolution, and a third area is distinctly different as these artists never lived in a pre-Castro Cuba. While grounded in Cuba, of course, all of these images speak a universal tongue, which is high praise for the artists who created them.
Rating:
Summary: PHOTOGRAPHS THAT SPEAK A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
Review: Explaining his concept for this absorbing collection of black and white photographs, Tim B. Wride, author and Los Angeles County Museum of Art Associate Curator of Photography, said "Shifting Tides" is intended to "expand the common perception of what Cuban photography is generally thought to be. That is, black-and-white, documentary reportage with a hint of magic realism, and replete with iconic images of Che and Fidel." Rather, Wide continues, there "is the broad range and inventive nature of work, both conceptual and visual, that has been and continues to be done on the island. The work is expressive, sophisticated, and firmly grounded in an international art dialogue." Covering 40 years of Cuban photography, the work is expressive, indeed. The volume may be roughly divided into three sections, one celebrating the work of such photographers as Enrique de la Uz, Ivan Canas and Jose Alberto Figueroa, who focused on the common man, workers, street scenes, and the marked changes found on the island. Another section emphasizes everyday life after the revolution, and a third area is distinctly different as these artists never lived in a pre-Castro Cuba. While grounded in Cuba, of course, all of these images speak a universal tongue, which is high praise for the artists who created them.
Rating: 
Summary: Survey of Contemporary Cuban Photography.
Review: The book is a catalogue for the important exhibition of Cuban photography, "Shifting Tides: Cuban Photography After the Revolution," which was organized by Tim B. Wride of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Focusing on just three generations of photographers, starting just after the triumph of the 1959 Revolution, it highlights the important work of photographers in and out of Cuba such as Jose A. Figueroa, Maria Eugenia Haya (Marucha), Rogelio Lopez Marin (Gory) and Marta Maria Perez Bravo.
The essay by Cristina Vives, an independent curator in Havana and an art historian, offers a brief history and indeed a very personal close-up of Cuban photography and its importance not as a tool of a socialist state or society but as fine art. As an "insider", (she is married to the photographer Jose A. Figueroa), she has been both privileged and burdened with writing an elegant essay that although brief, is both concise and informative. The reader emerges with a clearer understanding of how the present "state of affairs" in Cuban contemporary photography came to be. The press was a close ally of the medium because of political and social reasons in the early stages of the Revolution but, nevertheless provided both work and a showcase for the talents of many. In addition, Ms. Vives examines the state of photography before this historical reality of that continues to be, the Cuban Revolution.
Curator Wride, in a brief telephone conversation to this writer, said the idea of an exhibition as this was four years in the making. The exhibition and book that accompanies it, have been worth waiting for. Margarita Aguilar
Assistant Curator
El Museo del Barrio, New York
Rating:
Summary: Survey of Contemporary Cuban Photography.
Review: The book is a catalogue for the important exhibition of Cuban photography, "Shifting Tides: Cuban Photography After the Revolution," which was organized by Tim B. Wride of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Focusing on just three generations of photographers, starting just after the triumph of the 1959 Revolution, it highlights the important work of photographers in and out of Cuba such as Jose A. Figueroa, Maria Eugenia Haya (Marucha), Rogelio Lopez Marin (Gory) and Marta Maria Perez Bravo.
The essay by Cristina Vives, an independent curator in Havana and an art historian, offers a brief history and indeed a very personal close-up of Cuban photography and its importance not as a tool of a socialist state or society but as fine art. As an "insider", (she is married to the photographer Jose A. Figueroa), she has been both privileged and burdened with writing an elegant essay that although brief, is both concise and informative. The reader emerges with a clearer understanding of how the present "state of affairs" in Cuban contemporary photography came to be. The press was a close ally of the medium because of political and social reasons in the early stages of the Revolution but, nevertheless provided both work and a showcase for the talents of many. In addition, Ms. Vives examines the state of photography before this historical reality of that continues to be, the Cuban Revolution.
Curator Wride, in a brief telephone conversation to this writer, said the idea of an exhibition as this was four years in the making. The exhibition and book that accompanies it, have been worth waiting for. Margarita Aguilar
Assistant Curator
El Museo del Barrio, New York
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