Tues, February 2, 7:00 PM – Join us for the first in our 2021 Great Presenters Series with a presentation by Conrad Gees on “Cuba – More than Classic American Cars & 1950s Nostalgia”
There is truth in the statement, “Havana is a city frozen in time 60+ years ago,” but it is a characterization which can lead one to a false sense of sentimentality or condescension. Havana today is the outgrowth of the 1959 Revolution, the US Embargo, the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, which forced the inhabitants of this city, just 90 miles off the US coast, to develop in ways they can speak of with great pride, and in ways which leave them longing for more. I have concentrated on the sections of Havana known as “Habana Vieja” and “Centro Habana,” now United Nations World Heritage sites being renovated and brought back to life and decided to document not only the buildings, but the people living in these sections of the city and their resilience and ingenuity.
Conrad Gees is a retired Wayland School Teacher who now has the time to pursue his love of photographing the world around him. Hi photography is aimed at trying to record what Henri Cartier Bresson described as “the decisive moment” – moments when “swift chance, disarray, wonder and experiment” lead to an image which speaks to more than the subject at hand, much as a poem can convey meaning far beyond a literal interpretation. He looks forward to viewers seeing this in his photographs.