Bolero, Havanna, Cuba, 2001

Hilton Downtown

Visit Hilton Downtown Columbus.

Abdi Roble

In Street photography my goal is to pursue the truth in what I see before me at any given time and what I experience at any given moment. So my challenge in Street Photography has always been to portray my subjects as they would portray themselves: with dignity, with passion and with honesty. I must understand their culture, their history, and their way of life. When the opportunity presents itself, I will be able to capture on film what my subject and I feel at that very moment in time. It is in this moment, a collaboration of our experiences, when my perception presents what is honest and true, while eluding that invisible barrier that can often exist between photographer and subject. -The very morning after I arrived, my journey to search for the truth began. I found it in the faces of farmers, in the voices of Boleros and in the spirit of these descendants of Africans and Europeans. Neighbors shouting over balconies in Cien Fuegos and crowded fruit markets in Havana Vieja revealed their reality to me. Although, I don’t speak Spanish, as a street photographer I was able to translate these images through my camera. Ultimately, I learned that these people of a small island possess a big heart and a rich culture. -Cuba! Old, spiritual, beautiful, proud, warm, musical, artistic, colorful, and misunderstood. This special place is so distant from here yet only ninety miles off the Florida coast. The images I brought back on film will be a testimonial to the wonders I saw. It is my sincerest hope that I can convey and transfer those feelings I had when I was taking this images.

previous next