Cuba  |  India |  Italy |  Mexico | Paris

I went to Cuba twice in 1999, the second time to escape Y2K and to welcome the new century. I guessed that the doom and gloom and predicted worldwide disruption would not affect Cuba. I was right, and aside from festivities to welcome the new year 2000, Cuban life went on as before. Both my trips were sponsored by the Ludwig Foundation, an arts and cultural organization where I was invited to lecture on my second trip. Transportation within Havana was by foot or bicycle rickshaw, both providing closeups to daily life in the city. I also went to the cities of Trinidad and Santiago.

Cuba  |  Italy |  Mexico | Paris

My experience with India began in 2008, and I have been twice since. In my travels, I have discovered that you cannot summarize a country with photographs; you can only trace experiences. My interactions with India have been positive; I respond to the colors, the constant bustle of activity, the behavior of the people, all the shapes and forms of life. The myriad configurations of India’s religious devotions are ubiquitous, and I am drawn to the outward forms of worship, whether Hindu, Christian, Moslem, Jain, or Sikh, albeit without pretending to understand. This could be a sacrilege, but Indians I’ve encountered welcome photography, or at least don’t mind it, even in reverent moments. That is a great gift to a photographer.

India Particular was self-published in 2022 with Blurb.com.

Cuba  |  India |  Mexico | Paris

I fell in love with Italy way back in 1960 living in Naples and traveling throughout Calabria and Sicily. I wasn’t a photographer then, but I when I returned to Italy in 1972 as a photographer for an exhibition of my yoga series, I began photographing places I already knew and loved. I have returned frequently, more than 20 times, traveled extensively, and have built an extensive body of Italian photographs. Italy rewards the aesthetic mind, a friend once said, and I was rewarded with discovering treasures everywhere. But I leave the photographing monuments to others; I’m looking for less.

Almost all my conceptual and experimental photographs have had their origins or early trials in Italy — eg. Reflections, Sight, Line & Light, La Spiagia.

My photos are like quick notes about what I notice and what I am thinking as I walk along. This is a personal journey — one taken mostly on foot. Wherever I walked, whether the back streets of Rome or along the canals of Venice or in some small village, I was on heightened alert for the flickering details of light, texture, human gesture, irony — things that others could‚ but probably wouldn’t, notice. I value the spontaneous and unexpected event more than the pre-visualized. So nothing is ever posed or planned; I’m too impatient to wait for the right light or perfect moment. I photograph for myself — my own “audience of one” — creating my own dream world, Italia mia.

Cuba  |  India |  Italy |  Paris

“Recuerdos; We sell memories.” Mexican Fotografos Ambulantes are itinerant photographers operating without studios who solicit portraiture customers on the street or in public places. With a clientele that is overwhelmingly indigenous, this is photography of, for, and by the common man.

In Mexico City, thanks to a well-run union and clever marketing, street photography has long been a thriving enterprise, dating back to 1915. The union runs all the street photography in Mexico City and has some 400 photographers as active members. Even in the midst of rapid social change, they retained strong association with religion, with the family and with the Mexican custom of celebration. In recent years, due to the ubiquity of digital photography and cell phones, traditional street photography is in decline.

Los Ambulantes was self-published in 2013 with Blurb.com. The book documents the time when Mexican street photography transitioned from the old wooden box camera and paper negative Polaroid instant film expanding the use of street photography for average Mexican citizens.

“Death to the Spaniards and Long Live the Virgin of Guadalupe!” (Emiliano Zapata, leading the Mexican peasant revolt). The Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico and the symbol of Mexican identity; her appearance before an indigenous peasant in December 1531 is said to be one of the major forces creating the state and idea of Mexico. The image of the Virgin is ubiquitous, found in churches and homes all over Mexico — and throughout Central America and the USA as well.

The “Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe” (La Villa), which can accommodate 10,000 people, has been a pilgrimage site for centuries. The complex is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, visited by millions of pilgrims annually. December 12 is the Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and every year on that day several hundred thousand make their pilgrimage to La Villa.

Transporting the Virgin records the pilgrims coming to La Villa for the Virgin’s feast day reverently carrying images of the Virgin — statues, framed paintings large and small, flags and banners. Many families sleep over in the plaza where groups of Aztec dancers celebrate.

Cuba  |  India |  Italy |  Mexico

Over the years, I have made several trips to Paris, and I lived there for two years, so I am familiar with the city. As usual, I am more interested in the small moments and gestures rather than the monuments.

I photograph Paris in the spirit of Henry Miller, as described by Anais Nin. “I never looked at a street as Henry does: every doorway, every window, every lamp, every courtyard, every shop, every object in the shop, every cafe, every hidden-away book shop, hidden-away antique shop, every news vendor, every lottery ticket vendor, every blind man, every beggar, clock, every church, every whore house, every wine shop, every shop where they sell erotica and transparent underwear, the circus, the nightclub singer, the strip tease, the girlie shows, the penny movies in the arcade, the bal musettes, the artists’ ball, the apache quarters, the flea market, the gypsy cart, the markets in the early morning.”