In 1999, along the East coast of Cuba, I came upon a village called La Bruja. Trapped between the sea and the mountains in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra, it takes its name (“the witch”) and its reputation from a well-known local legend. Centuries of isolation and austere lifestyle have made their mark on the inhabitants’ culture.
Most people in La Bruja have no photographs, neither of themselves, nor of their ancestors. Little by little, the inhabitants came to accept me, as I had something precious to barter: attendance at a photo session in exchange for images of themselves.
“(…) These images were made here, in this remote Cuban village, but could have been made somewhere else, Africa or the Pacific islands, e.g. the picture of the two cousins Lurdes and Reina under the blossoming tree. They capture raw human beings against the backdrop of their own light, turning the people of La Bruja into an epitome of the passing of time, or time that stands still – an “inner journey” of sorts, as Henri Michaux puts it. (…) “
Philippe Lançon, in La Bruja, Immovable Tropics, 2001
Full version of La Bruja, Immovable Tropics by Philippe Lançon