Reachin

After seeing this image at my uncle's house, I want to take photos of people reaching. I like the child's look off to the side too. I feel it talks about issues of desire and need for affection and closeness. Not to mention the idea of trust. I've been thinking about these themes quite a bit and how to express them in my work. Right now, I'm using my family's stories about being Cuban exiles coupled with a moving image of the Atlantic Ocean from that infamous Southernmost point of the U.S., aka, 90 Miles to Cuba spot. I feel like the image above pins everything I ever wanted to say about Cuban exiles (or people in general) down in that single gesture.

Viva La Tecnología!

I remember back in the early 90's, being forced to speak my broken Spanish on a video that was intended for my family members in Cuba. This was my family, that to me, had no faces, no voices. We never got videos back to watch, I never even saw any current photos. They were a total mystery but there I was on the video, repeating what my mother was telling me to say, wishing them well and sending all my love.

Now, I see this happening in Korea. Maybe its something Cubans / Cuban-Americans can get into? Although there is definitely some technology that has snuck into Cuba, I'm sure the webcam is extremely rare if not nonexistent. Even while I was there last summer, Internet connection was painfully slow and it was a huge hassle for any Cuban to send an email. I imagine if something like this did happen, Cuban government officials would be screening all reunions making sure nothing was said in opposition to the regime. Maybe you wouldn't want to discuss politics when you finally get this virtual reunion but it is politics that keep you apart, how do you get around it?

I wish I spoke Korean and could watch one of these reunions. Or an interview of people afterwards. Can you really feel satisfied after something like that? Wouldn't it only spark the desire to try and see them in the flesh? Is it not throwing crumbs to the hungry? Its definitely different than just getting a letter and a photograph, objects you hold and that are still. Especially for those who are not used to technology, this probably gives them a good emotional fuck. How do you process something that seems so real, that you have an emotional attachment to but you lack the basic ability to touch?

Nobody likes a tease.

Sleep:

If it wasn't so good, I wouldn't love it so much.