Exclusive, New Book: Passage to Cuba

 

Havana neighborhood.
Havana neighborhood.

Beautiful Cuba…in Pictures

A new book, Passage to Cuba features images of this ever-more-popular destination

A Passage to Cuba, by Cynthia Carris AlonsoA Passage to Cuba, by Cynthia Carris Alonso

To stroll the streets of Cuba—to hear the rumbling engines of its 1950s automobiles, the jazz, and the rumba—is to travel back in time, to see the jaw-dropping natural beauty and the artists, musicians, and folklore of legends.

With access few others have had, Cynthia Carris Alonso has spent twenty years capturing Havana’s crumbling, baroque splendor. Her photographs celebrate the dreamy palette of Cuba—salmon pink, sky blue, apricot, aqua green—and reveal the contrast between patina homes; peeling stucco apartments; and the great Capitol Building, Havana Cathedral, and Hotel Nacional.

With Passage to Cuba: An Up-Close Look at the World’s Most Colorful Culture, Alonso opens the doors to an exquisite but rarely seen place. So take a stroll along the Malecón seawall; marvel at the dancers with their colorful, ornate costumes; lose yourself in José Fuster’s spellbinding mosaic designs; or simply relax in the warm sun of the countryside, where the calm, aging fishermen spend their days and where Ernest Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea.

This keepsake volume is a breathtaking tribute to a land with a complex history. It’s a lush, vibrant collection of photographs and a road map to use to embark on a remarkable odyssey.

Cynthia Carris Alonso
Cynthia Carris Alonso

Cynthia Carris Alonso has been a photographer and photo editor for more than twenty years, working for publications such as Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Business Week, and Time.com, and exhibiting her photographs around the United States and in Canada and Latin America.

Since the early 1990s, Cynthia has traveled regularly to Cuba, photographing the country’s most famous artists, important news events, and the daily life of the people. In 1992, Cynthia met her future husband in Cuba, and today she lives with him and their daughter in New York City.

“Cynthia Carris Alonso depicts Cuba with an insider’s access and a visitor’s sense of wonder. She captured rare views of authentic Cuban culture: innovative artisans and vibrant musicians, vintage cars, and buildings in faded glory, colorful characters whose relative isolation hasn’t dampened their spirits.

It’s an insightful survey of a land with a rich but enigmatic past and a promising future.” —Jack Crager, Senior Contributing Editor, American Photo

“Cynthia Carris Alonso’s poetic images are word pictures chock-full of Caribbean color and light that reveal a passionate people whose magical spirit appears to sing and dance before her very lens.” —Patricia Pedraza, Senior Producer, CNN en Español.

Men in San Antonio de los Banos play the Cuban version of dominoes. Talking during the game is both allowed and encouraged by the players and the people watching the game.
Men in San Antonio de los Banos play the Cuban version of dominoes. Talking during the game is both allowed and encouraged by the players and the people watching the game.
Tropicana Club dancers representing different god and goddesses of the Santería belief.
Tropicana Club dancers representing different god and goddesses of the Santería belief.
Cuba’s naturally fertile soil, red in color, is rich in minerals and provides unique agricultural conditions.
Cuba’s naturally fertile soil, red in color, is rich in minerals and provides unique agricultural conditions.
El Morro fortress build by the Spainiards in 1589 is located along the Malecón in Havana.
El Morro fortress build by the Spainiards in 1589 is located along the Malecón in Havana.

Excerpted with permission from

Passage to Cuba: An Up-Close Look at the World’s Most Colorful Culture by Cynthia Carris Alonso.

Copyright 2015, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Latest posts by GoNOMAD Contributors (see all)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to Top
Skip to content