Early this summer, I spent two weeks in Cuba with a close friend and collaborator, Elle Rinaldi, visiting friends and taking in the vibrant land we hadn’t seen since we studied there before the pandemic hit. Together, we saw the complicated juxtaposition between the beauty of Cuba- the warm people, ever present aroma of tropical flowers, and culture of love- and the country’s worsening struggles- extreme inflation, lack of tourism, food and electricity shortages, and more.
When asked what keeps them optimistic, inspired, or anything other than frustrated, both our long-time friends and the people we met this summer shared that no matter what, Cuba is a land of color, of beauty. When the sun sets, or the flowers in the trees bloom, Cuba’s issues are not solved, but beauty abounds. Cubans are proud of the color their country brings into the world visually and spiritually. It is from this that Elle and I decided to ask ourselves and those around us, “What was your favorite color you saw today?” Often, the colors people noticed blended into other senses— the yellow petals on the ground smelled sweet and light and the heavy gray rain had the unmistakable scent of a summer thunderstorm. We wrote a poem to go with each color, and I photographed the color, or the feeling behind the color, each day. These portraits and poems have become an exploration in sharing, healing, and finding the color every day.
Introduction originally written by Elle Rinaldi.