I'm Cuban captures the everyday reality of life on the island through candid voices, street scenes, and moments of joy and struggle. This ongoing visual project documents how Cuban history, policy, and culture intersect with personal choices, migration patterns, and digital connectivity.
Readers connect with the project because it humanizes headlines, centering individual stories rather than political slogans. By following specific people and neighborhoods, the work clarifies how global news shapes local routines.
| Focus Area | Key Detail | Why It Matters | Current Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everyday Life | Daily routines, commutes, food lines, and informal markets | Shows how policy translates into lived experience | Growing documentation of hybrid digital economies |
| Migration Flows | Internal movement, regional routes, and overseas departures | Highlights push and pull factors behind exodus | Increased use of digital tools for navigation and safety |
| Digital Access | Internet quality, platforms used, and data costs | Determines visibility, organizing, and connection with diaspora | Mobile data expansion amid ongoing connectivity gaps |
| Community Resilience | Mutual aid, local initiatives, and cultural production | Illustrates adaptive strategies under constraints | Collaboration across neighborhoods and online groups |
Everyday Life in Cuban Cities and Towns
I'm Cuban focuses on ordinary moments that rarely make international headlines but structure how people actually live. Market days, bus waits, and neighborhood gatherings reveal the texture of economic adjustment and community care.
By pairing street photography with recorded conversations, the project links image and voice. The result is a layered archive where context, humor, fatigue, and hope coexist in a single frame.
Urban Rhythms
In Havana and other cities, timing shapes experience. Early markets, midday heat, and late night conversations organize routines and influence visibility for photographers and residents alike.
Migration and Mobility
Movement within and beyond the island is a central concern of I'm Cuban. Short trips to neighboring provinces, regional routes toward other Latin American countries, and long distance departures all appear as recurring themes.
The project tracks how local rumors, app recommendations, and changing policies alter decisions to stay, transit, or attempt dangerous crossings. Documentation begins in familiar streets and follows people into uncertain transit spaces.
Digital Landscape and Communication
Access to reliable internet, affordable data, and platform algorithms shape how stories are shared. I'm Cuban pays attention to how Cubes navigate connectivity gaps, VPN use, and shifting platform policies.
From neighborhood WiFi signals to private group chats, digital channels become both safety tools and sites of surveillance awareness. The project records how communication tools enable coordination, fundraising, and emotional support.
Community, Memory, and Future Directions
I'm Cuban plans expanded neighborhood archives, multilingual digital exhibits, and training workshops that equip local partners to continue documentation on their own terms.
- Center community consent and shared ownership of images and stories
- Document everyday resilience, digital tactics, and mobility decisions
- Prioritize safety by controlling detail visibility in sensitive contexts
- Support skill building through workshops and accessible archiving tools
- Maintain long term partnerships with neighborhood organizations and digital cooperatives
FAQ
Reader questions
How does I'm Cuban differ from mainstream media coverage of Cuba?
I'm Cuban centers granular, everyday experience rather than crisis framing, foregrounding neighborhood routines, digital strategies, and personal mobility decisions instead of top level political narratives.
What ethical guidelines guide photography and consent in the project?
Collaborators and participants review images when possible, names are used with permission, sensitive contexts are blurred or withheld, and communities are offered copies of materials and dialogue about usage.
Can I contribute stories or photos to I'm Cuban?
The project accepts community submissions, oral histories, and carefully documented images, with clear consent forms, fair attribution, and transparent communication about how materials will be used and archived.
How do policy changes in Cuba and abroad affect the project's focus?
Shifts in migration policy, internet access, and currency regulation are monitored in real time, allowing the project to adjust field priorities, platform strategy, and safety recommendations for participants and contributors.