Michael Eastman: Havana, where decay meets beauty

Michael Eastman's Havana series exposes the colorful and crumbling interiors and exteriors of Cuba's capital. The details of these pictures make them fascinating and poignant: ghostly rectangles of lighter color on walls where paintings once hung, beach chairs that stand in for finely carved furniture, laden clothes lines hanging amongst chandeliers, above intricately tiled floors. But these deteriorating rooms and facades also tell a larger story: these are the homes of the successful and rich, who were knocked off their pedestals by the revolution and whose country, abandoned by its Russian supporters and blockaded by America, still has very little in the way of material goods.

While his photographs may provoke nostalgia for the glory days of Havana, Eastman's emphasis is on the subtle grandeur of these buildings in ruin, the beauty inherent in decay.

Michael Eastman is a self taught photographer, known for his large-scale photographs of the world's most beautiful cities including Rome, Paris, and New Orleans. He lives in St. Louis.

Michael Eastman's Havana series is currently on exhibit at Michael Hoppen Contemporary, UK.

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