David Simone, Cuba — An Outsider’s View of Place and People
Presented by the PhotoZone Gallery

October 9 to November 12
Opening is October 9th from 5 to 6pm; Artist Talk on Zoom October 11 @ 1:00
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82360060200

Dot Dotsons
1668 Willamette Street Eugene, OR
541-485-1771
12-5 Monday – Thursday; Closed Friday-Sunday
http://dotdotsons.com/
Free to the public

My wife Karen and I were very fortunate to travel to Cuba in January of 2020. Little did anyone know that in three months, travel there would be restricted and ill-advised.

Cuba had long been near the top of my travel list because of the Cubans’ scrapping yet friendly reputation and for the visual interest of the aging colonial architecture. I am interested in learning from the Cubans about their government and the condition of their lives. Fortunately, Karen speaks Spanish or we would be left like so many tourists, unable to communicate and really understand what is going on. Many Cubans do know at least small amounts of many languages. Cuba is truly an international travel destination. We meet travelers from all over the world and when almost out of luck in the boonies, hitched a ride with a Russian family on a horse drawn taxi. Now travel has all but dried up and like so many people around the globe, the Cuban’s fiscal health is threatened.

For this show, I choose to focus on my images taken roaming the streets of Havana and the provincial capitals of Cuba. As an architectural photographer, I am drawn to the colonial relics and unique facades of a country that has been scrapping for it’s existence for decades. I often got up before dawn to photograph and we would explore in the evenings photographing and enjoying the people and music. My thanks to Karen for her patience while I stopped yet again to photograph.

I have been working on improving my photographic imagery for over 50 years. After studying photography in high school and at a community college in California, I received a BFA from the U of O in visual design and photography. While continuing a fine art practice, I opened Lightworks Photography doing commercial and architectural photography as well as portraiture. I stopped doing commercial work four years ago and am now working on creating photographic imagery that portrays our amazing world.

Artist Talk on Zoom October 11 @ 1:00
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82360060200

Presented by the PhotoZone Gallery, a collection of diverse individuals interested in the art and craft of photography. A wide variety of skills are valued which range from masters of silver print, platinum/Palladium, gum bichromate, etc., to enthusiasts of digital production. Many kinds of work are welcome, including hand-colored, airbrush, 3-D, collage, HDR, portraiture, street photography, nature photography, abstract expression, mixed media, and the list goes on.

Photography At Oregon
supports the area’s photography teaching
programs. It has done so for more than 50 years
promoting the fine art of photography, sponsoring
exhibits, lectures, classes, and workshops, inviting
photographers of national and international reputation,
and showing works of historical importance.

Photography At Oregon
PO Box 50874
Eugene OR 97405
www.photographyatoregon.org/
541-686-1240
Photographyatoregon@comcast.net