Capturing the vintage romance of Havana

The photographs focus on the resilience of Cubans—of keeping music, dance, and laughter alive in the face of various challenges

- Avantika Bhuyan

One of the most striking images in Rohit Chawla's new series, Havana, is of a bespectacled old lady with a beaming smile, sporting an array of vibrant blooms in her hair. Photographed against a spartan beige wall, her entire being radiates positivity. In a way, this portrait captures the very essence of Cuba and its people—of keeping music, dance, and laughter alive in the face of many challenges that it has seen over the years.

Chawla first visited Cuba 10 years ago, but it was only on a recent trip that he got to explore the country extensively. Chawla traveled to Fidel Castro's hometown of Biran and also to Santiago de Cuba, the other major city, but felt Havana was a city that defied time. The entire experience felt akin to having traveled back to the 1960s in a time machine. There are no glass facades or high-rise buildings.

"Havana is the real heart of Cuba and it became the focus of this exhibition. This time, after being exposed to the country in its entirety, I was filled with an admiration for its people, who manage with less in every aspect of modern-day living because of the pervading sanctions [the US has maintained economic sanctions against Cuba since 1962] and yet go about the business of life without bitterness," says Chawla.