IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 5 ENGLISH | Page 89

Lía: Talk to us about CubaRaw…

pendent press continues being poor,
with few exceptions.
It is difficult to notice this lack of visual
quality inside Cuba, where Internet
connectivity is almost none existent
outside the capital, particularly among
civic activists, to whom State connectivity privileges are never given. This is
the norm for them, so they do not see it
as a problem that needs to be solved
immediately and definitely while looking to the future. An independent photographic agency that also doubles as a
database for national use free of charge
for Cubans in Cuba, but charging other,
interested correspondents, could make
up for this shortcoming in Cuba’s visual
discourse.
The name ‘CubaRaw’ alludes to the
maximum digital quality .raw format,
but also to the idea of a “raw” Cuba,
free of falsehoods or censorship. As a
platform, it is aimed at all the members
of our emerging civil society interested
in developing their photographic skills,
whether they are professional or not, or
active or not; they would serve as communicators associated with agencies,
libraries, debate groups, opposition parties, etc.
CubaRaw took on the task of creating,
classifying, and developing a database
of images taken of Cuba’s everyday,
contemporary reality. It contains photos
and videos, wherever possible) that are
valuable because of their expressive
force for any topic of interest: repression, activism, economics, jobs, education, hygiene, health, customs, folklore,
sports, religions, emigration, plastic
arts, concerts, theaters, communications, transportation, etc.

CubaRaw was born in 2009, from an
idea that Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and
Claudio Fuentes Madan had about a
photographic project that in some way
would help make up for the visual
shortcomings of contemporary, independent journalism in Cuba. The idea
was to create an image base, using specific works by each agency photographer, and in that way renew the visual
quality of journalistic texts. The agency,
too, would grow and increasingly involve more photographers. This would
also further highlight the pro-human
rights work being done by an activists’
collective. Starting with digital photography’s boom, taking an instant photo
has gotten easier and easier. These cameras are also becoming a bit more accessible now to people with limited
resources, unlike before.
Numerous independent press agencies
have had academically trained or selftaught report W'2