HOMMAGE TO GRANDAL

RUBER OSORIA

// Cuban photographer Ruber Osoria, now living in Chile, was able to interact with and document a unique literature festival held in Colchagua, Chile in 2023. Poets from many different countries congregated and participated in readings, workshops and wine tasting events. With his documentary style, Ruber also wants to pay hommage to the renouned Cuban photographer Ramón Martínez Grandal. We are pleased to present a selection of Ruber´s arts documentary.

We have previously featured Ruber´s photography of Chilean street art and of a theatre performance. Check out the articles on our website.

“But it is dangerous to walk where everyone walks, especially carrying this weight that I carry.”

Juan Rulfo

What draws you to the arts?

“What attracts me to art is its purity, its freedom, the most sincere thing that one can touch, feel and imagine.

Art makes me feel like a fictional character created in my mind, it makes it concrete, it is something else. I stop being a simple maintenance worker and I become a photography artist, art is my drug, my lover and my judge.“

What did you like best about this photography project?

“I am paying a small tribute to Ramón Grandal, Cuban photographer, the portraitist of Latin American poetry, photographing characters like Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Benedetti, Alejo Carpentier, Elíseo Diego, among many writers from our continent, I seek to take a look at the poets, who are not as boring as you might think, poets are funnier and less serious, one might say, than a punk band.”

With this series, Ruber wants to pay hommage to the famous Cuban photographer Ramón Martínez Grandal, and at the same time highlight Latin American poets. He attended the first international poetry and wine festival held at Colchagua, Chile in 2023. The event was organized by Casa Bukowski International, a cultural foundation that aims to promote literature and culture in Chile and around the world. The foundation organizes a variety of cultural events, including poetry festivals, art exhibitions and book launches. More than 60 poets from 17 different countries participated in this festival. Over a five day period the poets held poetry readings, workshops and, of course, tasted the wines. The festival was a great success and helped promote culture and literature in Chile. Ruber hopes that Casa Bukowski International will continue to organize exciting cultural events in the future.

Grandal was one of the most prominent Cuban photographers of all time. He died in Miami in 2017 at the age of 67. His work was characterized by a documentary, intimate and critical look at urban life, daily events and the idiosyncrasies of the Cuban people. Born in Havana in 1950, he studied Museography and Museology at the Museum of Fine Arts. His first photos taken at the beginning of the 1970s showed an intense social commitment and a vision of reality that he tried to keep in the memory and in the retina of those who did not seek stereotypes. In 1993 he emigrated to Venezuela, where he also carried out work that reflected his sensitivity and talent. His innate gift for teaching, his passion for art and his extensive experience and knowledge in the field of photography led him to become a professor who inspired and trained an entire generation of Venezuelan photographers. Grandal photographed reality with a critical and profound look, his work is a testimony of the history, culture and identity of a people that he knew how to portray with mastery and sensitivity. His documentary and artistic work captured the essence of daily life and culture in Cuba and Venezuela, and his legacy continues to inspire new generations of Cuban and Venezuelan photographers.

“As a contemporary Cuban photographer, I have found many similarities between my work and Grandal’s. Like him, I am passionate about documenting the daily life and culture of my country,” says Ruber. “Our beginnings in photography were in the theater, and I think that what unites me most with this master and why I identify so much with him is the Martian heart that characterizes us. Grandal’s work has taught me to see the world differently and to appreciate the beauty in the simplest things. His photographs are a testament to the power of photography to capture unique and unforgettable moments. Throughout his entire life, he photographed many of the greatest representatives of Latin American literature such as Juan Gelman, Eliseo Diego, Gabriel García Márquez, Eduardo Galeano, among others. For me, poetry and literature are a source of inspiration, so I took this topic and decided to continue with Grandal’s legacy. Always thinking that photography is an excuse to make a friendship. I want to express my gratitude for his contribution to photography and for being a source of inspiration to me. His work has taught me to be more creative and to always look for new ways to tell stories through my photographs and remember Ramón Grandal as the master Cuban photographer who has left an indelible mark in the history of Latin American photography. Thank you, Ramón Grandal, for your legacy and for inspiring generations of Cuban photographers.”

Click on the photos to see the original size and title – poets are identified in the image captions.