Cuba on film

by Erin in adventure, personal, travel

I’ve been wanting to go to Cuba for as long as I can remember so I jumped at the chance to enter when I saw that my film lab was doing a giveaway for a 4-day film photo adventure in Havana & Vinales.

I never win giveaways but I just had this feeling in my gut when I entered – “I think I’m going to Cuba”. A couple days later I got a message asking if I had a passport and then it was all systems GO!

Sergio, my guy, also came along and it was SUCH a treat to see him fall in love with shooting film – plus we have been dying some for sunshine and an adventure so it was the perfect timing.

We stayed in a Casa Particular in the non tourist-y part of town and adventured around the streets of Havana with film cameras in tow, connecting with locals and the other photographers. I swam in the warm sea, ate the most amazing food, smoked a cigar on a family owned Tobacco farm, got pulled on stage to dance at the Buena Vista Social Club, rode a horse in the rain in the most beautiful countryside, and drank more cortados than I could count.

Not to sound to overly dramatic, but I left a changed woman. More inspired, more grateful, more curious…and with a serious case of wanderlust.

Vintage car driving past colorful, timeworn buildings on a busy street.
Two people taking a mirror selfie in a warmly lit room.
A split image showing a person's feet on a tiled floor in one half, and a view from a green shuttered window onto a cityscape in the other half.
Vintage blue car parked beside a rustic building with weathered walls and a faded "cantería" sign.
A split image showing a person petting a ginger cat on the left, and a person sitting at a café enjoying a drink on the right.
A diptych showing an old white building with potted plants on the left and a man sitting in a vintage car on the right.
A diptych photo showing a row of parked pedicabs on the left and a display of colorful artwork on a street easel on the right.
A split-view image showing a sunlit street scene in a city on the left, and a collection of colorful cuban license plates on the right.
Two halves of a diptych photo showing urban scenes: on the left, a close-up of a building corner with a street sign "calle 226," and on the right, the elongated shadows of two people cast on a sunlit pavement with a bystander in the distance.
Two young girls sitting on a step with a toddler, in a quaint urban alleyway.
A split image showing a vintage car in motion on the left and a horse-drawn carriage on the right, against a backdrop of colorful colonial buildings.
Vintage car with glowing neon interior lighting.
Vintage cars parked on a street in a cuban city with colorful buildings and urban decay visible in the background.
Vintage cars lined up on a city street in front of ornate architecture, captured in a split-frame photograph.
White cat with blue eyes sitting on a doorstep.
Split-view image of a classic car interior on the right, and a colorful building facade with a balcony on the left.
An elderly person walks past a street fruit stand with prices listed on a chalkboard in a sunny urban setting.
A person stands on a balcony with a cityscape in the background, juxtaposed with an opulent chandelier and ornate ceiling decor.
Demolished building with exposed remnants of interior walls marked by graffiti, against a clear sky.
A diptych depicting contrasting urban scenes: on the left, a vintage blue car driving beside a fence in an empty street, and on the right, weathered buildings with balconies draped in laundry.
View from a balcony through iron bars showing another balcony with a person standing, old buildings in the background.
Two coffee cups on a tiled table with a cityscape at sunset in the background.
A young child leaning on a parked moped in a narrow street.
Dilapidated building with a person sitting in a window opening.
Urban street scene with traditional buildings and people walking.
Sunset over a coastal city with an old fortress and cannon in the foreground.
Photography essentials with a roll of film, currency, and a camera on a wooden surface bathed in sunlight.
A serene courtyard with trees and a fountain, and an elderly man playing guitar by a large wooden door.
Historic fortification overlooking a city skyline under a cloudy sky at dusk.
Two individuals sitting on a wall beneath a cloudy sky with a flag flying in the distance.
A person stands in a doorway of a weathered building alongside a scene of a dog resting beside a motorcycle on a city street.
A vintage green car parked outside as viewed from a partially open doorway.
A man in a yellow shirt and cap holding a vintage camera.
A person riding a bicycle taxi past weathered buildings with graffiti.
An array of cuban license plates and souvenirs displayed beside a pastel-colored doorway.
A street vendor pushing a cart filled with hats in front of a historic building with blue doors, as a child sits on a nearby doorstep.
Vintage cars driving past colonial-style architecture on a city street.
A coastal landscape with scattered clouds in a blue sky above a calm sea and a solitary palm tree standing out against a backdrop of vegetation.
Split-image showing a rustic outdoor bar on the left, and a close-up of green leafy plants on the right.
A split-image featuring a distance signpost on the left with directions to various cities, and a tropical landscape with lush greenery and misty mountains on the right.
A diptych showing a rural landscape with a roaming horse on the left, and three men focused on a task at a table with one man smoking on the right.
Children playing near a vintage car under the shade of large trees in a tropical setting.
Left: man inspecting the engine of a vintage pickup truck by the roadside. right: cluster of green bananas and a large purple banana blossom hanging from a plant.
Terraced vegetable gardens with stone borders in a rural hilly landscape.