Campesinos: the photo art of Julio Larramendi and Chip Cooper

Julio Ángel Larramendi is one of the faces of contemporary Cuban photography. A Chemistry PhD researcher turned into photo Jedi, his work is showcased at Conde de Villanueva hostal in Havana Vieja.

Teamed with Chip Cooper, their most recent expo shows the Cuban guajiros in a manner far away from  prescindibles components of life. In terms of Larramendi’s facebook followers: they touch the soul of the subject & the observer.

The photographs for Campesinos: The Heart and Soul of Cuba were taken over the course of a two-year trip that included visits to every province of Cuba and were originally exhibited in Havana in March 2015. The exhibit then travelled, upon invitation, to the Vatican in June as part of a celebration of diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Julio Ángel Larramendi Joa is a native Cuban and studied chemistry in the Soviet Union. In 1975, he began to work in specialized laboratory and scientific photography. Larramendi began photographing full time in 1997. He has given lectures, taught basic and postgraduate courses and photography workshops, both in Cuba and abroad, has won many awards and contributed to many publications. He was placed among the top 100 Cuban photographers of the twentieth century by CUBA-FOTO Magazine.

Chip Cooper, former Director of Photography for the University of Alabama for 33 years, is now artist in residence in the Honors College, as well as a faculty member in Arts & Sciences. His work has been featured in a number of publications including Antiques & Fine Arts Magazine, Newsweek, The Village Voice, USA Today, Alabama Heritage, Sophisticated Traveler – The New York Times, Veranda and South x Southeast Photo Magazine. His books include Hunting the Southern Tradition, Alabama Memories, Silent in the Land, Common Threads (with stories by Kathryn Tucker Windham), Crimson: The University of Alabama, Charlie Lucas: The Tin Man and Habana Vieja, Old Havana (with Cuban photographer Nestor Marti). He has won many awards and has shown his work nationally and internationally. His work is in many museums, private and corporate collections. Cooper began his work in Cuba through UA’s Alabama-Cuba Initiative. In March 2014, he received an Artist in Residence from the Fototeca de Cuba for the City of Havana.

Fuente: www.lahabana.com