A gallery talk by Charles Anselmo, March 7 at 2 pm

In concert with Island Cuba, Dalet Gallery’s current exhibition of Cuban photographic art, photographer Charles Anselmo will talk about the uniquely sociopolitical images on display while relaying the engaging story about gathering the images personally from the portfolios of four of the city’s most famous working photographers.

Owing to the continuation of chronic shortages of darkroom materials in Cuba, it was necessary to bring Ilford paper, fixer and developer for two of these four traditional process artists (Enrique de la Uz and Pedro Abascal). Also contributing to this two-year collaboration are Mario Diaz and Lissette Solorzano.

With an emphasis on sociopolitical changes as reflected in the history of Cuban photographic iconography since the revolution, Anselmo will also discuss the way in which these artists establish a completely new visual vocabulary of social relevance and a national Cuban identity of the photographic image. Each occupies a specific position within the evolving generations of the country’s visual artists, at the same time establishing their key relevance within a larger international identity of social-documentary photography.

Following the presentation, guests at the gallery are invited to view a half-hour documentary video of interviews with the artists, filmed at their Havana residences in January.