Collections Online

Written on the back of this work is: “This year I spent a couple of months in Havana photographing a crew of Cuban disc jockeys who live and work at night. We were curious about each other and I became very close to these young, streetwise romantics. They love their country but are also at odds with it. They want to work, but not for a system that does not properly reward that work. They, as many Cubans, know how to hustle but are not hustlers at heart; they do it to survive. Having a foreign friend is of much value to them because they want to communicate with the modern world. They saw me as a useful bridge and perhaps in exchange, allowed me to closely observe and record their lives. A preacher once told me that people want to have a voice, they want to share their opinion with the world, but not always a face. A face makes some things too real, too visible. But I have found that the kind of sharing that allows both parties to deeply benefit builds trust. With trust, sometimes that face is forgotten, the world is forgotten, and we are allowed to be present, to be intimate.” — Michael Christopher Brown