Keith Cardwell
Photographer
Keith Cardwell was born in the UK and studied art in Leeds and at Goldsmith's College, London. He has worked as a freelance photogrpaher since 1978 and holds professorships in Guangxi, China and Savannah, Georgia. His work has been exhibited and published internationally and he has worked with photo editors for a wide variety of magazines and newspapers, including The Guardian and The Observer.
He was the first British photographer exhibited in Havana and curated, as well as exhibited in, "Cuba Sí – 50 Years of Cuban Photography," National Theatre, London (September – November, 2000) and ten venues throughout the world.
He first went to Cuba in 1997 while lecturing in Savannnah and visited the island every opportunity over the following three and a half years. During this period Cuba welcomed Pope John Paul, suffered through the Eilan affair and savoured the international success of the Buena Vista Social Club.
In 2004 Cardwell published Cubana: The Buena Vista Years.
Of this book, Cardwell says:
It seems to me that I have been preparing all my life to make photographs of the Cuban experience. I have the language. I know how to make pictures, and Cuba provides me with the voice. The very essence, the core of this work, lies in the loss that will inevitably occur when Fidel Castro dies. His dreams have become reality on this magical island, and at best the photographs oscillate between reality and mystery - in short, Cubana.
Introduction by Tracy Hallett. Essay by Keith Cardwell.
Published 2004 by Arcperiplus. ISBN:1-902699-66-1.
Paperback, 143mm X 105mm, 279 pages.