The Cuba Archive – Tria Giovan – Crane Kalman Brighton

Photographs 1990-1996

THE CUBA ARCHIVE - TRIA GIOVAN

To mark 30 years since the first publication of Cuba: The Elusive Island, published by Harry N. Abrams, we are very pleased to present the first in a two-part exhibition of Tria Giovan’s comprehensive study of Cuba in the 1990s.

Having first travelled to Cuba in 1990, over the next six years, Tria Giovan took twelve month-long trips, traversing the island numerous times, and taking over 25,000 photographs. Immersing herself in Cuba’s history, literature and politics, Giovan photographed interiors of homes and businesses, city streets, rural landscapes, signs and billboards, and, most of all, the people, creating a body of work that captured the subtleties and layered complexities of day-to-day Cuba.

In 1996, Cuba: The Elusive Island, was published. The book brought together 100 of these images, along with a selection of writings by some of Cuba’s most important writers. Twenty years later, the images were re-edited, and a second publication The Cuba Archive – Photographs 1990-1996 was published by Damiani Editions in 2017.

"Giovan’s The Cuba Archive is about those who remained and lived in Cuba during the 1990’s – some of the toughest years Cuba has known. Like most things about Fidel Castro’s Cuba that enchant visitors, there is unique beauty but one intertwined with deterioration, isolation, and loss, and Tria’s photographs speak to this arrangement of unequal things...The beauty of these photos is as magnetic as the island “ - Silvana Pasternos from The Cuba Archive

Viewing the photographs through a prism of time and change revealed a new more complex view of the work’s historical significance. It is a record of elements that no longer exist and captures Cuba poised on the brink of change. As a body of work born from complete engagement and informed perspective, it is both comprehensive and intimate. As a historic record, it chronicles 1990s Cuba and bears witness to the spirit and integrity of a distinctive, resilient, and complex country and its people.

Tria Giovan first traveled to Cuba in 1990. Over the next six years she took twelve month-long trips, traversing the island numerous times, and making more than 25,000 images. Immersing herself in Cuba’s history, literature, and politics, she photographed interiors of homes and businesses, city streets, rural landscapes, signs and billboards, and, most of all, the people, creating a compelling body of work that captures the subtleties and layered complexities of day-to-day Cuba born from complete engagement and informed perspective.

prints Available to purchase

Helado Havana, Cuba, 1994
Residential Building in Vedado, Havana, Cuba, 1990
Waiting on the Corner, Remedios, Cuba, 1993
Lady on a Bar Stool, Havana, Cuba, 1990
Beauty Salon in Vedado, Havana, Cuba, 1993
Guagua, Central Havana, Cuba 1994
Fantasias, Cueto, Cuba, 1993
Doorway, Baracoa, Cuba, 1992
Coffee Collective, Escambray Mountains, Cuba, 1991
Havana Libre Hotel Reception, Havana, Cuba, 1993
Children’s Clothing Store, Havana, Cuba. 1994
Car, Santa Maria Del Mar, Cuba, 1990
Plane Ride, Remedios, Cuba, 1992
Mural at The Big of Pigs, Playa Giron, Cuba, 1993
Presidio Modelo Prison, Isla Jueventud, Cuba, 1994
Prison Wall, Isla de la Jeuventud, Cuba 1994
Calle 23 in the Rain, Havana, Cuba, 1992
Bus Stop with March at the University, Havana, Cuba, 1993
Camilo Cienfuegos, Havana, Cuba, 1991
Street, Old Havana, Cuba, 1994
Avenida Salvador Allende, Havana, Cuba, 1993
Tree Lamp Signs, Havana, Cuba, 1993
Malecon, Gibara, Cuba, 1993
Three Men, Remedios, Cuba, 1993
Waves Malecon, Havana, Cuba, 1995

Ellie Davies, Seascape 7, 2020

90 cm x 120 cm, Edition 1/7
Prices starting at £1,200 exc VAT

Also available as:
90 cm x 120 cm, Edition 1/7
Prices starting at £1,200 exc VAT

Ellie Davies, Seascape 8, 2020

90 cm x 120 cm, Edition 1/7
Prices starting at £1,200 exc VAT

Also available as:
68 cm x 90 cm, Edition 1/7
Prices starting at £900 exc VAT

Ellie Davies, Seascape 9, 2020

90 cm x 120 cm, Edition 1/7
Prices starting at £1,200 exc VAT

Also available as:
68 cm x 90 cm, Edition 1/7
Prices starting at £900 exc VAT

Vanishing Point

Michael Ormerod

26th September - 9th October

Michael Ormerod (1947-1991) was a British photographer with a distinctive and powerful voice, whose career was tragically cut short on August 7th 1991 in a road accident on his last field trip to the USA. He is known for his striking and evocative images capturing American landscapes and urban scenes. His work often depicted the raw, gritty reality of life in America, showcasing both its beauty and its challenges. Ormerod’s photography gained recognition for its powerful storytelling and unique perspective on the American experience. His legacy continues to influence contemporary photographers, and his work remains highly regarded in the photography community. Despite this, over the last 33 years, only one major exhibition of his work has taken place in 2003.

Since his untimely death in 1991, Ormerod’s body of work has been held at the Millennium Picture Library in London. At a family event in 2012, celebrating his life and photographic work, his daughter Ali had a wonderful conversation with one of Ormerods’s closest friends and fellow photographer Geoff Weston. This conversation led to a shared intention: to go back to the archive and revisit his photographic legacy. We have since discovered a trove of previously unseen negatives from Ormerod’s trips to America. Working closely with the help of Alan Thoburn, over the course of a decade we have cherished the opportunity to consider these previously unseen images and curate a new collection deserving of public display.

” It seems that everything my father did was intended to raise questions rather than insist on answers. Perhaps that is why the obsession with horizons, vanishing points and ends of the road are common themes throughout his work. We can not now know what my father would want us to make of these images, but I am certain that he would smile to know that they have managed to surface. ”

Ali Ormerod

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming release of Michael Ormerod's second Photobook, published by the renowned RRB Photobooks this Autumn. The discovery of new work was incredibly exciting on a personal level, and we are simply delighted that RRB Photobooks agrees that this work materially augments and expands the story.

Ormerod’s first exhibition took place at the Zelda Cheatle Gallery in London to coincide with the release of his book “States of America,” shortly after his passing. A second exhibition followed in 2003 at Sheffield Graves Art Gallery. In 2010, Crane Kalman Gallery in Brighton provided the public with another opportunity to view my father’s work in person, and the event’s success underscored the lasting impact his images have on the viewer’s imagination.

With the imminent release of his second photobook, 31 years after “States of America,” it is time to honour his photographic legacy.

Michael Ormerod: Vanishing Point Exhibition runs from the 26th September to the 9th October at 33 Great Windmill Street, Soho, London W1D 7LR

‘States of America’ Michael Ormerod published in 1993. Now scarce and coveted by collectors.