Product Description

While most think of Cuba as a mythical island of rum, rumba, and revolution, period photographs reveal a more complex place. I Was Cuba is an original look at Cuban history as seen through the Ramiro Fernandez Collection arguably the world's leading archive of Cuban photos and ephemera. I Was Cuba showcases rare, vernacular images from the nineteenth century through the revolutionary period, exploring the everyday and the eccentric. With texts from famed Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (Before Night Falls), this captivating volume is an intimate view into a bygone era of glamour, political upheaval, and astounding visual culture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #102978 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

About the Author
Kevin Kwan is a book packager and creative consultant who has created projects with some of the world's leading artists, designers, publishers, and institutions. He has been involved in the creation of numerous acclaimed visual books, including (un)Fashion by Tibor + Maira Kalman, Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, and Spectacle by David Rockwell with Bruce Mau. In 2004, he produced Presenting Celia Cruz, the celebrated photography tribute to Cuba's "Queen of Salsa."

Peter Castro was named managing editor of People en Español in 2006. Prior to joining People en Español, Castro worked at sister publication People magazine, most recently serving as executive editor overseeing entertainment coverage.

Ramiro Fernandez was born in Havana to a family involved in the pharmaceutical industry. He left Cuba in 1960, settling first in Palm Beach County and then in New York, where he was a photography editor at Time Inc. for 25 years, working for such titles as Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, People, and People En Español. Fernandez first began to collect at the suggestion of his grandmother, who foresaw the coming turmoil and urged him to collect images of a Cuba that was fast disappearing. As a witness to the revolution in his youth, Fernandez's consuming passion has been to build a collection that can serve as a testament to the Cuba he remembers.

Customer Reviews

The greatest Cuban photo book ever
Wow, now THIS is a masterpiece. Well chosen material juxtaposed in creative and sometimes very funny ways, and a singular look at a well-known subject. The collection that these photos came from must be truly magnificent. I already bought ten copies for my Cuba-obsessed friends, and I'm just getting started. Both the collector and book designer get the highest marks possible!

I WAS CUBA
I had originally bought the book for me, but when I opened the book and saw all the beautiful pictures of what Cuba once was, I knew I had to give this book to my parents. When my mother unwrapped the book on Christmas Day and started to look at the pictures with my dad, tears came from both their eyes. My mother hugged me and could not stop thanking me for the gift. Those of Cuban Heritage, please buy his book, for "YOU ARE CUBA" and you won't regret it.

Superb photos -- a lost Cuba brought to life!
This tidy little volume is worth much more than it costs. The nicely embossed cover has a "quality" feel, and the pictures deliver a unique experience.

I bought this as a birthday gift for the father of my fiancee -- he's visited Cuba on a business basis (he's in an industry that IS allowed to do limited biz with the island's current regime). Anyway, he was delighted.

This brilliantly chosen photo collection illuminates a Cuba that no longer exists. The thing to remember is, the "lost" Cuba is not dead, just slumbering beneath the surface of the modern Communist state. The Cuban past caught in these pix explains a lot of the present reality; it may be VERY relevant to the near future, when Castro is gone and Cuba's mixed history and modern experience recombine. Highly recommended. P.S. - I also bought, and he also loved, Es Cuba Es Cuba: Life and Love on an Illegal Island, a nicely written love-and-hate story of contradictions in contemporary Cuban life.