Photography Exhibit, Cuba On Display
February 24th, 2015 - Miami, FL
By Melissa Rodriguez
South Florida News Service
For artists with extensive experience in photography, showcasing their work publicly is often expected, but for 22-year-old Daniel Hernandez, a self-taught photographer, who began to follow his passion nine months ago, being the only artist representing Miami and exhibiting his work next to renown Cuban artists at a local gallery has marked the milestones of his so far short career.
“I feel very exited, way too much, and very nervous because this is not normal. It’s not something that I was expecting,” said Hernandez.
It all began with a recent trip to Havana, Cuba, a country he left five years ago.
When Hernandez walked around the cobble-stoned streets of Havana with his Nikon D5200, he realized he wanted to break away from portraying a destroyed city that caused pity but embrace the beauty of its historical architecture.
“Mi Habana en Adoquines,” meaning, “My Havana in Cobble Stones,” as he named his three-photo series, is now decorating the walls of Nina Torres Fine Art gallery during an exhibition that will be open to the public through Sept. 30, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 12 to 5 p.m. on Saturday by appointment only.
The 10,000-square-foot gallery located by the bay is divided in two halls and has dedicated one of the rooms to exclusive Cuban fine arts.
Around the hall, there are sculptures and light boxes scattered over the room, and pictures and paintings hanging on the wall.
Nina Torres, owner of the gallery, said this exhibit has no political or religious meaning, adding that to her, art has no frontiers.
“What interests me is finding out the best works of an artist, no matter what part of the world they are from. This is an exhibition for all kinds of public,” said Torres, born in Mexico, who has worked with artists from different countries like Australia, Russia, China and Mexico and strives to introduce art not yet seen elsewhere. “It’s a showcase presented by the gallery exclusively.”
Alejandra Lucas, 23, who attended the event on its opening night on Sept. 19, agrees and said she was pleased to see works that showed different techniques.
“I‘ve seen a lot of galleries in which you see lots of pictures of just one artist. It wasn’t like that in this one,” she said. “In this gallery, the rooms are shared by the work of different artists and that keeps you interested in the different kind of arts.”
All the artists at the exhibit work and live in Cuba and were not present at the exhibition, with the exception of Hernandez, who is the youngest and only Miami-based photographer showcasing his work in the gallery.
The exhibit is in collaboration with the Galería Galiano, located in Havana, Cuba, and it portrays the latest work from contemporary artists that include Roberto Fabelo, a Cuban painter and illustrator who worked editions for Gabriel García Márquez and won the Alejo Carpentier medal, and Michel Mirabal, a contemporary painter who has won awards in the United States, Dominican Republic and Argentina and whose exhibition trajectory dates back to 1996, among others.
Hernandez said he is honored to be part of this group of Cuban artists.
But success didn’t come easy to him.
Hernandez, owner of Rawspot Photos and an engineering student at Florida International University, had the idea to become a professional photographer when he bought his first digital camera last November and realized he did not know how to use it.
“I am the kind of person that can’t stand not knowing about something,” he said.
He spent sleepless nights searching for photography videos on YouTube, watching tutorials and reading articles by professional and experienced photographers. Even if he came home tired from school and work, he always studied photography for at least two hours before going to sleep.
But it was on his recent trip to Cuba, said girlfriend Maria Paula Lopez, 23, co-owner and creative director of Rawspot photos, that he found his drive.
“We have done magazines, artists, fashion and all that, but we realized that conceptual photography is the one we’ve liked the most,” said Lopez, referring to photography that tells a story.
After his debut in this exhibit, Hernandez said it was a gratifying experience to see people interested in his art.
“Having people that I’ve never met to look at my picture and really understand why I took it is the reason one does an exposition,” he said.
If You Go:
What: ‘Cuban Arts Crossroads’
Where: Nina Torres Fine Art, 1800 N Bayshore Dr., Miami, FL 33132
Hours: Monday – Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. (by appointment only) though Sept. 30
Cost: The exhibit is free to the public.
For more information: Call Nina Torres Fine Art Gallery at 305-395-3599 or go on www.ninatorresfineart.com