Coming into this trip I wanted to take portraits of people. I had only ever taken photos of my friends and family. I never took photos of strangers. But I wanted to challenge myself. I was unsure what the protocol was for taking pictures of people. I didn’t know how people would feel about having a stranger take a picture of them. I had to think about it from their perspective.

When I arrived in Trinidad, I noticed three kids sitting in a window. They sat there curiously watching us climb out of our cars and unload our oversized luggage. We lugged our suitcases across the cobblestone street onto the sidewalk. They watched us. I watched them too. I kept making eye contact with the girl. Eventually I walked over and say hi. I reached into my purse and pulled out three mints. I used the minimal Spanish I retained from high school to offer them to the kids. They understood my awkward Spanish. I introduced myself and then they did too. The girl, Luz Mary, spoke a bit of English. She explained that one boy is her brother and the other is a friend.

After chatting for a bit, I asked to take their picture. I wasn’t sure how to approach taking pictures of people, but it felt right to ask for permission.

They happily said yes.

• 

The kids posed for the photo. I thanked them, said bye, and then walked back across the street where my group was. After I walked away another tourist walked by with his camera and took a photo of them. He must have seen me do it. But he didn’t ask them for permission. The way he photographed them was as if they were a display in a window. He didn’t say hello or even acknowledge them. And after he took the photo, he kept walking.

This bothered me. I didn’t want to be like that. I wanted to document Cuba and its people. But I wanted to do so respectfully. And, I needed to figure out how to do that.

Photographers are not invisible. They impact the moment they are capturing. This man was photographing the same people I did. But I imagine the photo was different due to the way he took it. He tried to take it in passing. He did not want to be a part of the moment. He wanted to capture them naturally, without disturbing them. But I feel like he was actually more invasive.

I used to think that a photographer could only capture a candid moment if they were removed from it. I thought that a photographer should be a fly on the wall who captures uninterrupted moments. Otherwise the photo would be insincere. But I don’t feel that way anymore. The relationship between a subject and photographer is important. Acknowledging the situation is powerful. I think it creates more genuine photos.

Here are some more of the photos I took during my time in Cuba:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•