Four ways of looking at Cuba and Latin America
Castro, Coca-Cola, Che and chasing women: the four themes and two books that make up the exhibition devoted to Luc Chessex by the Musée de l’Elysée at Lausanne. A plunge into everyday life in the Cuban revolution, experienced by the Swiss photographer first hand.
The exhibition, which runs until August 24, contains many original prints, publications, newspaper articles and a previously unpublished book on Cuban women. It also leaves the island – where Chessex lived from 1961 to 1975 – and presents images of his travels in Latin America.
To mark the occasion, the museum has published two books on Chessex. “Castro, Coca, Che” brings together three series of photographs. Castro is a watermark portrait of the leader of the revolution, comprising countless representations on walls and posters or in popular culture. The series “Che” and “Coca” brings face to face two icons that had a huge impact on the 1960s and 1970s, following the stand-off between Cuba and the United States that started in 1959.
The second book, “Looking for women”, is a personal project from 1966 and has never been published until now. The photo-essay is a look at what it means to be a woman in Cuba and is a reflection on the nature of photography itself.
(Images: © Luc Chessex/Collection Fondation A Stichting, Collection Luc Chessex, Collection Musée de l’Elysée, Text: Marc-André Miserez, swissinfo.ch)
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.