Havana Street Portraits: Cuban Girls in the Doorway

There’s something about Havana. The heat, the hue, the hustle. It’s in the walls, the windows, the faces you pass without names. Havana, the Capital of Cuba truly is a photographer’s dream, there are literally great shots to be had around every corner. I took this image, one of my favourite from Havana around five years ago when I was out there exploring the streets. Somewhere on my walkabout I discovered these two Girls, presumably twins sitting in a doorway of their Father’s store or shopfront. It may have been a bakers or a car mechanics, I have no real recollection. I just remember seeing the two girls and taking a couple of shots candidly which captured their great expressions below:

Street Portraits of Havana, Cuba by Geraint Rowland Photography

One of my favourite images from my Cuban trip, I love the way both of the Sisters are looking towards the camera, both with different expressions. The one on the left more stunned and staring, the one on the right starting a smile, both girls dressed in the same clothing. For me this travel image is street photography in its truest form: Nothing added, nothing staged, everything real. I had to crop the image tight as there were some distractions to the right of the girls, but I wanted to keep the aspect ratio at the classic 3:2. Sometimes you have to take the frame of the moment during street photography and candid reportage, as you often don’t have the time to situate yourself perfectly.

The image was captured with my Canon 5D Mark IV, which I had recently purchased second hand, and the ever-trusty 50mm f/1.4 — my street stomping sidearm. The light? Natural. The moment? Unrepeatable. It’s also a quiet reminder — That the streets speak to those who listen. The people of Cuba are very expressive, I collected some great street portraits whilst I was out there, but as always I wish I had taken more! Here is a photography blog I wrote about some of the street portraits I took while in Havana. That photography trip to Cuba did a lot for my photography and paid dividends with the captures that I collected. The obvious one being the low level, wide angle image of the vibrant pink classic car I took down on the seafront of Havana after a rain storm. This image won me a trip to Hong Kong and Macau via the Travel Magazine Wanderlust. You can view that image and read about the win on my blog here.

Cuban Street Portraits in Black and White by Geraint Rowland

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📍Location: Havana, Cuba
📷 Gear: Canon 5D Mark IV + 50mm f/1.4

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Cuba and Cigars

Cuba is famous for it's cigars, and in Havana they are everywhere.  People smoking them, or posing for photographs with them, or trying to sell you them.  Cuban cigars are rolled from tobacco leaves found throughout the country of Cuba and are said to be among the best in the world.  Despite American trade sanctions against Cuban products, cigars remain one of the country's biggest exports.  In 2016 Cuba exported $445 million worth of cigars worldwide.  Here are some portraits I took in La Habana, the Capital of Cuba of Cubans with cigars, click through the slide show below:

A beautiful elderly Cuban woman poses with a Cuban Cigar.

A man dressed as Cuban hero Che Guevara smokes a local cigar on the streets of Havana.

A large Latina women smokes a cigar on the streets of La Habana, Cuba.

A friendly cuban in a bright red hat poses with a Cuban cigar.

All of the above photos were taken with a Canon 5D IV using natural light.  The lenses used were the Canon 50mm 1.4 prime lens and the Sigma Art lens at 135mm.  Some of the people I captured in Havana were there for the tourism and received money in exchange for photos, but a couple were strangers in the street whom I asked if I could photograph.  I like the additional prop of the cigar in these head shot portraits, it adds a particular Cuban feel to the images.  

More of my travel photography from Cuba can be found on my website, my Facebook and my Flickr account.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.  

Street Portraits in Havana, Cuba

I recently spent a week in Havana, the Capital of Cuba.  It's a great place for photos, full of old classic cars, interesting architecture, and a lot of colour.  Whilst in Havana I also took several portrait shots of some of the locals.  When I first started taking photos I took mainly nature shots: flowers and landscapes.  I then became interested in Street photography capturing people around the World in a candid manner.  A friend once told me that the best photographs are those which contain people and I now tend to agree with that more and more.  Click through the slideshow below for some black and white Cuban portraits:

A black and white portrait of a curvy Cuban lady smoking a cigar.

A black and white street portrait of a friendly man smoking a cigar in La Habana.

A black and white portrait of an elderly cuban lady with flowers in her hair and a large cuban cigar.

A black and white street portrait of a man in dungarees and cap in Havana, Cuba.

A head shot portrait of an elderly man taken on the streets of Havana in Cuba.

All of the above photos were taken with a Canon 5D IV using natural light.  The lenses used were the Canon 50mm 1.4 prime lens and the Sigma Art lens at 135mm.  Some of the people I captured in Havana were there for the tourism and received money in exchange for photos, but a couple were strangers in the street whom I asked if I could photograph.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and with street portraits I believe you get an even more interesting story from an image.  I was happy with the head shots I got in and around Havana and plan to take some more in the future.  I converted the images to black and white using Lightroom as I preferred the overall mood of the resulting series.  However, Havana is a colourful place and it is often nice to see the images in colour.  One of the cigar smoking ladies can be seen in colour here, whilst the cigar smoking gentleman can be viewed here.

Cuba is a country located in the Caribbean, south of the US state of Florida, west of Haiti and north of Jamaica.  Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, and has over 11 million inhabitants. Havana (Habana or La Habana in Spanish) is the capital city and leading commercial centre of Cuba.

More of my travel photography from Cuba can be found on my website, my Facebook and my Flickr account.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.