Photolucida: Douglas Ethridge: Peeling The Onion, Stories from Cuba

Photolucida: Douglas Ethridge: Peeling The Onion, Stories from Cuba by Aline SmithsonJune 28, 2013

Douglas Ethridge has been a long time friend and it was great to see him at Photolucida. Over the years, Doug has created interesting and varied bodies of work, each executed with intention and skill and the work he brought to Portland was no exception. His project on Cuba manages to capture the people and place with a nuanced style and sensitivity.

Doug is a stills and video photographer, video producer, writer and editor. His corporate project work has been exhibited world-wide and has included museum installations, major product introductions and corporate documentaries. His fine art images have been published and exhibited in the U.S, Europe, China and Latin America. He is represented by Verve Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe.

Peeling The Onion, Stories from Cuba

When people learn that I have been to Cuba several times, they almost always ask “why.” The short answer is that it’s the people that make Cuba so attractive to me as a traveler and as a photographer. The majority of Cubans that I have met are warm, curious and sociable. Intensely proud of being Cuban, they readily become active participants in the image making process. And so for the most part, these are not pictures of strangers.

They are portraits of friends met along the way.

Beyond the people, there is the entire “stage set” that is Cuba, full of worn yet elegant details of everyday life, fascinating juxtapositions and unexplainable coincidences. It just goes on and on and on. I feel as though I am peeling an onion, with each layer revealing more than the next and no end in sight.