Palmer exhibit captures daily life in Cuba

Marcella Veneziale Guest Writer

Most Americans have not had access to Cuba for decades, and daily life there remains a mystery. Cuba: Photographs by Rick Miller, which opened Sept. 26 at the James W. Palmer Gallery, offers black and white snapshots of street life in this off-limits world. The exhibit comprises 45 photographs taken during Miller’s trips to Cuba in 2001 and 2004.

Miller serves as Acting Chair of the Art Department at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue, N.Y., and teaches courses on photography. “My first interest in Cuba came from a book that I had read called Trading with the Enemy [by Tom Miller],” said Miller, of no relation to the author. “When I began to think about it, I realized how bizarre it is that Americans who are so close geographically to Cuba can’t visit there.”

In 2001, he traveled with MADRE, a human rights organization, as their official photographer. MADRE organizes aid around the globe for women whose basic human rights are violated. A friend of Miller’s suggested that he look into such an organization as a way to gain access to Cuba. “I had heard of [MADRE’s] work and…as long as somebody had a way for me to get in, that was all I needed at that point,” said Miller.

In 2004, he led a group of students from St. Joseph’s College on an educational trip to Cuba. He said that they were able to bypass the tougher restrictions that had recently been established because they obtained a license in 2003 that was good for two years.

Soon after Miller’s 2004 visit, the U.S. government sanctioned only certain types of trips to Cuba. Those traveling for cultural, religious or educational purposes, as well as family of Cuban citizens, had been permitted entry into Cuba. Today, it has become even more difficult to receive permission to visit, due to heightened security of international travel and the Bush administration’s recent trade restrictions on Cuba.

Miller’s work offers an inside glance at the daily life of average Cubans. “What impressed me the most was their adaptability, ingenuity, and determination. They don’t have much, but they manage to figure out how to make those things work for them,” he said.

Miller noted that most of the Cubans he met harbor almost no resentment toward Americans, despite the recent embargo that is worsening many of the country’s economic woes. “I think [visitors] will find Cubans to be very welcoming,” said Miller. “Despite the dissention and disagreement between the two governments, Cuban people don’t seem to hold that against Americans.”

Cuba’s inaccessibility heightens the importance of the striking black and white photographs. A little boy stands in the foreground of “Farmacia, Cuba 2004,” while we see the backs of a crowd of women hovering over the pharmacy counter. The shelves behind hold a small supply of medicine bottles, and there is no pharmacist or store owner in sight. One woman symbolizes the crowd’s impatience, her hand planted on her hip, clutching a prescription. “If you go into a pharmacy, prescriptions are sold in bottles, sometimes just covered with cloth and a string around the top,” said Miller.

Ultimately, Miller hopes the exhibit captures the vivacity of Cuban life. “It’s almost impossible to walk down a street and not hear music or not see people on the streets. Or to just sit in a park in Havana and listen to people arguing and conversing.”

Cuba: Photographs by Rick Miller will run through Oct. 12. In honor of the exhibit, the Palmer Gallery will host a reception for Miller on Oct. 1 from 4:30-6:40 p.m. Following the event, Miller will discuss how “A Photographer Looks at Cuba” at 7 p.m. in Sanders Auditorium. The exhibit and related events are free and open to the public.