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Cuba: Histories of the Present - Photographs
This folder contains photographs by David LaFevor from his exhibit and lecture series "Cuba: History of the Present." These photographs are for classroom use only and should not be reproduced in any other content without author approval. They have been featured on NBC News and in the Huffington Post.
Images of Cuba: Bringing Cuba to Life in your Classroom with Photographs
Students will draw on what they know or imagine about Cuba in order to engage existing knowledge, perceptions, and questions they might have about it. They will then review photographs from these collections, describe what they see, and then read statements by the authors. They will engage in a rhetorical analysis of the photograph—what aspects of the photograph communicated to the student? What did those aspects communicate? Teachers using the text With Eyes and Soul: Images of Cuba can have students analyze photographs on their own, and then with the poems the authors have paired with each photograph (in Spanish and English).
Depending on the educational context, this unit ends with a creative exploration: a photographic project and gallery, a writing activity, or with a student-driven research project.
Objectives:
Explore Cuba through photographs, engage student interest in Cuban society
Develop a more nuanced understanding of human and cultural diversity in Cuba over time (1980s/2000s)
Understand photos as arguments or texts—that photographs are not merely reflections of reality but mediated images that convey meanings
Consider a photographer’s emphasis or point of view
Understand the importance of the context in which a photo was taken, and the elements of a photograph that contribute to its mood