My friend from Havana, the dancer Lester Alejandro. We met in 2015 during my trip to Havana. We have kept in contact since. Late 2018, I was busy planning my photo trips when Lester messaged me. Because I live far far away in Australia, I need to schedule my photo trips well in advance...I needed to do Singapore, Kyoto, and then I had a 2 week break before Venice. Come to Havana again, Lester invited...and I thought, great idea! There's just so much to photograph in Havana and so, in January 2019 I found myself in Havana once again. Lester is actually a hip-hop dancer with the dance troupe called The Concept. The contemporary dance crew is actually quite popular in Cuba. They have been featured by Havana Club. And this time since I was lucky enough to have access to a beautiful mansion where I was photographing my other ballet dancer friends, I invited Lester to come as well. This is the place where A-list celebrities like Madonna and Rihanna did their portraits, as well as President Obama. The interiors are beautiful, even with natural lighting alone, and this place sets the scene of my multi-award winning project "1957".
This is how I source my "models" - all new found friends that I get to know during my travels...can't wait to do Havana once again when this pandemic and recession thing settles...
The photo was subsequently collected within TRIERENBERG SUPER CIRCUIT 30 YEARS WINNER’S COLLECTION 1992-2022, in the male portraits section. A simple but very memorable portrait for a dear friend.
The Trierenberg Super Circuit is the world's largest photo contest, held every year in Austria, with the most number of photo entries. Only photos of highest standards are included in their coffee table photo books: https://www.supercircuit.at/Book-Shop