Project Cómo lo vemos a Usted (y como nos ven) How we can see you (and how they see us)

Photographic exhibition of portraits Cómo lo vemos a Usted (y como nos ven) or How we can see you (and how they see us) by artists Jeffrey Cardenas and Yanela Piñeiro will be opened on December 26 at 4:00 p.m. at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba.

This exhibition is the result of a collaborative project carried out last July at the Plaza Vieja (Old Square) where two identical photographic studios were located. About 600 people had their photos taken. Each photographer chose that picture that best represented their personalities. These two images were combined to create unique high resolution diptyches. There are over 100 images finished for this collection, diptyches and individual portraits. Each image tells a singular story but seeing them in a collective way, it is like a narrative about the diversity in the Havana’s population. A book on large-format photographs related to this project will be presented that day. All the collection Cómo lo vemos a Usted, you can see it through this web gallery: http://jeffreycardenas.smugmug.com/C ómo-lo-vemos-a-Usted/n-5tzVq/i-tDb7XK5

THE PROJECT

The collaborative project of portrait photography Cómo lo vemos a Usted is a kind of photography story that not only tells how two different photographers, a Cuban and an American, look at their subjects but also how these subjects look at them. Jeffrey Cardenas and Yanela Piñeiro Gutiérrez, they use identical but separate cameras made portraits of the same subject, with little difference in time, against neutral backdrops at the Old Square. In three days, over 600 Cubans chose to pose. More than 10,500 RAW images were exposed. Each photographer selected the picture that best represented the personality of the subject. These two images were combined to create unique high resolution brochures. What does each character show to each photographer? Which person does select each photographer as their subject? The differences in the images can be subtle or may be substantially different., but it is about photography, each one will be authentic.

ARTISTS

This is a true collaborative project by two photographers with a sincere passion for the arts. Jeffrey Cardenas is a 58 years old artist who has been working in the documentary photography for newspapers and magazines around the world for many years. His work has been exhibited several times and he also has numerous books and photographs. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1980, for International Reporting.

Yanela Piñeiro who is only 16 years old is the youngest member of the Hermanos Saíz Association but his work has been widely exhibited and awarded in Cuba. Both artists are from the old school and the work they achieved in this project is a testimony of the collective work and their passion as artists.

THE PRESENTATION

The images will be printed in three sizes large-format: diptychs in 102 x 76 cm and 76 cm x 61 cm sizes, and individual portraits of 61 cm x 91 cm size. The printing process is unique. Metal printing is a new technique in the art for the photos preservation. To perform this technique, they directly infuse overtones on aluminum sheets having a special coating. Some art critics compare the process with the creation of some sculpture because the image is infused on the surface and is not printed on it. This way, the images gain an almost magical luminescence. The background of the image is pure white. The photographic in black and white tones are subtle and vibrant. The luminescence is breathtaking. Details and resolution are unsurpassed. The finishing is extremely durable. The images are transferred through a process of ink sublimation with such a quality like a museum archive. The Cómo lo vemos a Usted project is about self-reflection and this photographic process perfectly fits with this concept.