All photos by John Rosenmiller
Photo Feature by John Rosenmiller
HAVANA TIMES – “Carboneros de Cuba” began in 2017 outside the village of Cabagan, a village near Trinidad, where Mario and Incensio were tending a small pile of marabu wood covered by an earthen kiln. Like other campesinos making carbon (charcoal), they preserve a centuries old Cuban tradition, one experiencing a revival as Cubans struggle to find cooking fuel. Subsequent shoots over the next eight years included carbon piles near Trinidad as well as Baracoa, Vinales and San Jose.
Typically, the lighting was minimal and easily portable: kerosene lamps, oil cans, flashlights and small video lamps. Often, the carbon pile was backlit to accentuate unique smoke patterns. On fortunate nights, a bright moon further illuminated the landscape. Portraits were shot in front of a black cloth slung between trees and lit by a single flashlight.
Note: If you are in Havana during March the “Caraboneros de Cuba” expo is showing at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano.
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*John Rosenmiller is a New York based photographer photographing in Cuba since 2016. “Carboneros de Cuba” is the result of eight years of documenting carboneros (people who make carbon, or charcoal) in rural communities throughout the island.
See more photo features here on Havana Times.
