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I photographed 80-year-old Reynaldo Cueller while wandering through Habana Vieja (Old Havana). This photo
was featured in the coffee-table photo book "THE MILLENNIUM PHOTO PROJECT - Dawn of the 21st Century". Photographers around
the world documented how people spent the time period from 12:00 noon December 31, 1999 to 12:00 noon on January 1, 2000. Reynaldo,
who is retired, was just relaxing while quietly smoking his pipe and contemplating the holidays. In Cuba, January 1st
is also the national anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.
One year, two cultures and a world apart.....
A year later I returned to Havana with a very special purpose in mind. As noted above, the photo was featured in "THE
MILLENNIUM PHOTO PROJECT book and one year later, I returned to Havana with a copy of the book and was able to track down
and find Reynaldo to present him with a copy of the book. You can see his photo in the book just above my fingers. It
was such a special moment for me to present Reynaldo with the book and realize how a photographic image brought two cultures
a little bit closer together.
While it is fun to photograph the many different faces of a foreign culture, please always remember to ask "el permiso por favor" before taking
someone's photo.
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