Thomas Pratt photographs youth and music in Santiago de Cuba

Date
15 November 2017
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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

“I first went to Santiago de Cuba in 2012 for the carnival, the conga parades and sound systems were incredible so I’d always planned to return,” photographer Thomas Pratt tells us. As luck would have it, three years later, his friend set up a small music studio in the Cuban city, “which I saw as a great opportunity to photograph the musicians that would be recording there.” The serendipity continued: weeks before Thomas arrived in Cuba, there was by a major diplomatic announcement by Cuban president Raúl Castro, and the US president of the time Barack Obama, that Cuba and the USA were, after over 50 years, to rebuild diplomatic ties.

Under the haze of political goodwill, Thomas travelled to Santiago de Cuba to meet rapper Alain Garcia Artola, drummer Carlos Guerra and rumba group Obbatuké, and a crew of hopeful musicians from the inner-city area Reparto Portuondo. “On my return to Santiago, Alain picked me up on the back of his purple Babetta moped from the bus station and took me to his Mum’s house,” Thomas tells It’s Nice That. “For the next two and half months we lived in an apartment together, which also housed the recording studio. Alain introduced me to a huge variety of people from the city from folk guitarists to rappers, rumba bands to DJs and cultural ministers.”

“I would be invited to sit in on rehearsals, music lessons, dance practises during the day and be eating and drinking with the same people at night. I ended up in a local reggae bands music video, In meetings with government officials in the Teatro Heredia. In the middle of a fight that broke out during a conga, searching for colonial ruins with local archeologists, playing a lot of FIFA on the playstation, watching a steel band practise on a rooftop in a small town in the Sierra Maestra mountains, buying home made rum through letter boxes, Alain’s Mum cured my bacterial infection with fruits and herbs. Being in an empty church on Valentine’s Day listening to a Cuban troubadour.”

As the community of his friend’s music studio embraced him with open arms, Thomas was able to work with his subjects to make images.
“I was very conscious to have full consent from the subjects in all the photographs, I see the work as being very much a collaboration between the subjects and myself,” he says. Now, the images have found new life in Música en Santiago de Cuba, a book published by Spaghetti Press, with the full support of the musicians pictured in his project. “Photo books are my favourite way to view photography,” Thomas says. “I had some money saved and discussed wanting to make the book with graphic designer David Weller, we worked together on the edit, layout, design, right through to the print. We met with a variety of printers until we found a quality and price that made sense and have put the book out as our first release on Spaghetti Press.”

“The musicians featured were very supportive throughout the taking of these photos, the response has been great from musicians that have seen the book so far. Alain wrote the introduction to the book based on the photographs I’d sent to him. The younger generation understand the power of the internet and want exposure to further their careers as musicians. I still owe Nagbe, the priest, a large print for his living room.”

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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Thomas Pratt: Música en Santiago de Cuba

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About the Author

Bryony Stone

Bryony joined It's Nice That as Deputy Editor in August 2016, following roles at Mother, Secret Cinema, LAW, Rollacoaster and Wonderland. She later became Acting Editor at It's Nice That, before leaving in late 2018.

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