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A Letter from a proud Cuban Woman
Hi Andrew.
I'm totally disappointed!!!!
How is it possible a famous, remarkable and outstanding photographer like you travelled to my country in order to look for "prostitutes", and then try to sell the false image that most of the Cuban young women are "devoted" to the same activity??? How much were you paid for that???? Dirty money. Shame on you!!!!
You are wrong, and I wonder if I'm being naive thinking you didn't have a hidden bad intention filming such a documentary.
That a small group in society that neither work nor study tries to live as parasites selling their body doesn't mean most of our youth are such worthless individuals.
Thank God, most of our young women are decent, workers and/or students with high moral codes, so you better keep on taking pictures without harming the image of the Cuban women, to which I proudly belong.
Thanks
Gaby
9:25 PM (18 hours ago)
to Gabriela
Hi Gaby, I'm just curious, when is the last time you were in Cuba?
Did u watch my whole documentary? I did not get to see what the broadcast showed but I tried my best to explain that there are different kinds of women in Cuba. I certainly tried to explain that I was not looking for prostitutes, although I did explain that many people use prostitution as a means of income subsidy. Please watch the whole documentary. Cuban people are lovely and honorable. If I have a particular point or criticism, it is that people are struggling to make ends meet. 80% of the economy is black market, and there is a general sadness in people because they lack opportunity. However it is not a restlessness. My sense is that opportunity is so scarce that creative drive is quite rare, which means that restlessness is not likely to occur.
Feel free to keep in touch,
Yours,
Andrew
Hi Andrew.
Answering your question, the last time I went to Cuba was 2007 and I was never more allowed by the government to visit "my country" again since 2008, nor even to see my daughter who is still there, just because I decided not to go back and live there.
However, that doesn't mean I don't suffer for my family, friends and people in general, and that I could share certain media materials and politician points of view aimed at discrediting the government and the system using Cuban people, particularly young women and topics like prostitution.
I'm highly appreciated when you said Cuban people are honorable and lovely; I will add we are, in general, educated and hard-working people and, of course our distinctive feature: hospitality and solidarity, and that's why I cannot stand still watching excerpts of your documentary which in my opinion denigrates Cuban people, particularly young women (I apologize if I overreacted).
Of course I realized "los Implicados" program, or Mega Channel, didn't broadcast the whole documentary, but only took those convenient parts to promote a political debate in their own interests, mainly to please the old Cuban sector living in Miami.
Regretfully, you are almost 100% right when you describe the lack of opportunity and general sadness you notice when you're there, and on the other side it is like if the country had stopped more than 50 years ago; the government cannot hide the serious economic situation faced by the country which has impoverish many people.
However, although you sense unhappiness atmosphere there, you are also right when you referred to restlessness as improbable, but it's not only because creative drive is scarce, but also because government controls everything, even people's mind. That's why, without living there but keeping updated in my own interest about the scenario, I consider a radical change won't be attained, at least I don't think I will see it.
Regarding young women, I insist that's a tiny group of them who take the wrong way to meet material needs, and it is a pity viewers who watched that program could think different. Sorry, but most of Cuban women constitute a hard-working sector and/or a large student sector.
I wonder if looking for material to enrich your documentary you visited Havana University, Arts schools, sport facilities and other social sites to see young Cuban women there and the role we, women, have been playing in Cuban society. You don't have to answer, it's just an open question to make reflection.
Thank you for your time to respond to my message, and once again I would like to apologize for my first reaction and for my poor English.
Wishing you a merry X'mas, and happy new year full of health and success.
Gaby
Dearest Gaby,
It's really moving to feel how much you love your people. As I hoped to explain, I was also very moved by the warmth and the values of the people - family and community values which are very rare in America within American cultural individualism. I also spent a lot of time with students and professionals and artists and found the Cuban people to be inspired and very honorable, again, in ways that I admire and look up to, as a comparatively greedy American.
I did not go to Cuba to seek out prostitutes or to do a program on prostitution, and i haven’t yet got to see what the news broadcast did in their report. My web series is about learning the different dating customs around the world - which I talk about in the documentary – and also about the wonder of courtship and attraction beyond all borders. I am a photographer and a human being who honors beauty, even and especially where society says it is ugly or taboo to find beauty in whichever sort of person. To me it is crazy to say that photographs that show beauty and humanity even in poverty or in a prostitute are exploitative. I choose to see humanity and beauty in a person first, before judging.
At the same time, I called this the Cuba Prostitution Documentary, because the amount of ordinary women and girls - students, young mothers, even friends of friends - who approached me for sex, or even a kind of relation that might bring them away from their regular lives - yet without even knowing me very well - was so unusual to me that it quickly became the primary focus of my video work. Gaby, the normalization of sex for the purpose of subsistence appeared to me in so many facets - relating to social customs, the openness to sex without any puritanical taboo and of course the troubles with the economy and opportunity.
I certainly did not go to Cuba searching for prostitutes, but I think the documentary is valid from the point of view of what it is like to be a tourist there, if you feel like going out at night or dancing, or you have a hotel security guard who is trying to make some money for his family.
I love and support everything you said about Cuban people, and I hope that my documentary shows the hard and the sad parts, for the purpose of bringing more awareness and support and opportunity for people and human need all over the world.
I hope that you will have a chance to see the Cuba slide show that I did as well,
All the best Gaby and thank you very much for your point of view and the opportunity to learn from a proud Cuban woman,
Warmly,
Thank you Andrew for your detailed explanation.
Perhaps we could not share the same point of view about everything, but after this fruitful exchange, after clarifying my misunderstanding regarding your documentary, which came from the bad intention by the news broadcast, and last but not least, after your kind words towards my home country and my people, you can rest assure you have earned a new fan, regardless my admiration on your outstanding work recognized all over the world.
I'm the one who appreciates your time and attention, and look, I have also learnt from you.
May I convey to you my best wishes of health and success in 2012.
A thankful and proud Cuban woman, part of the suffered Cuban community spread all over the world.
Merry X'mas!!!!
Wow Gabriela,
Much love to you.
Merry Xmas!
Andrew
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