Insights and stories from a personal perspective: the German photographer, Volker Figueredo Véliz (born 1953) has come to know and love the Caribbean island – not just as a holiday-maker, but by spending a large part of his life in Havana. Equipped with a Leica, he has photographed moments that are typical for Cuba, yet rarely seen by tourists and visitors. Through his family connections – he is married to a Cuban – it was much easier for him to gain the trust of people. This gave him access to a world behind the scenes of the vacation destination, and wllowed him to capture scenes from people's everyday lives, and the lives of their friends. The photographer opted very deliberately for black and white imagery, which may well be one of the reasons the powerful portraits are not easily forgotten.
