The New Cubans

Jean-François Bouchard’s cinematic photography illuminates the previously underreported culture of contemporary Cuba, revealing a polymorphic, intimate community in which personal expression and gender diversity are vivaciously celebrated. Preconceptions of communist social uniformity and Cold War-era clichés are cleverly subverted in this ambitious photographic journey that reveals the emerging subcultures in Havana. Texts include an interview with renowned photographer and former Vice photo director Matthew Leifheit and an essay by Cuban art critic Jorge Peré. The New Cubans showcases a Cuba few outsiders have seen or possibly even know exists.

Over recent years, an imperfect storm of global and local circumstances has reinvigorated Cuba’s creative and alternative subcultures like never before. Largely driven by the recent widespread Internet access and the relaxation of the embargo during the Obama administration, the younger generation