This was a job for a frequent tourism agency client who wanted me to document one of their tours as well as whatever else I found interesting in Cuba. The tour was mostly concentrated around Havana but once they had flown back home, I made my way to Vinales, a small farming town a few hours from the city. On the bus ride there, I was able to meet a local who was able to connect me with a farmer to photograph.
While on personal time, I decided to document the fascinating subculture of climbers that call Cuba home. A reason why the climbing community hasn’t matched the incredible landscape has been because of politics. The government doesn’t allow climbing even though they rarely enforce their rules. Since they are communist, obtaining gear is one of the big challenges for the locals. They rely entirely on donations from visitors and climbing companies. The two climbers that I was talking to want the sport to grow and even allow locals to use the gear from their shed to see if they are interested. The future of climbing in the country remains uncertain but the rocks aren’t going away any time soon.
