BERT DANCKAERT | TEATROS (HAVANA 2018-2022)

From January 11 to February 11, 2023.

The series "Teatros (Havana 2018-2022)" consists of about twenty pictures of cinemas in Havana. Many of them have not been in use for decades, they decayed (along with Cuban society) or were given a new purpose. Most of the buildings date from the 40s and 50s, before the Revolution, others were built under the Castro regime.

Almost all the photos are composite (stitched) images (the buildings divided in about six parts + several shots for the people in the foreground of the photos). They were shot with a medium format digital camera, resulting in a striking sharpness and resolution. The ‘actors’ who appear in the foreground were indeed in those places but (sometimes) not at all the same time. Because of this, the photographs may refer more to fiction or a construction and the photographer acted as a director (cinema/theatre) who determines the situation rather than depending on photographic chance.