Beyond Tourism

Beyond Tourism

At a time when giant cruise ships dump hordes of tourists daily into the cobbled streets of Old Havana, this student work seeks to find what lies beyond the shiny paint of classic cars, the ruffled dresses of salsa dancers and the sparkling waters of the Caribbean’s largest island. The normalization of relations with the US has led to an influx of American tourist dollars, but will this uptick in visitors translate into positive changes for everyday Cubans?

Ray Jr. was very open about talking about the process of starting his casa business, but he didn’t let anyone come take pictures. This was the closest I got to take pictures of his rental.