On Location

A Creative Cuba Experience: Viñales and Havana

with Jennifer Spelman and Carlos Otero Blanco

Online registration for this program has closed. To check availability, find out about future dates, or if you would like further information, please call 505-983-1400 ext. 111. Also, get the SFW E-Newsletter for updates!

Sign-up for the Newsletter:

Course Description

In 2019 a meteor exploded over Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Traveling millions of miles, the meteor blazed through the sky and in a sonic boom powerful enough to break windows it shattered in the atmosphere before sending a perfect stony meteorite fragment to rest just outside the doorstep of El MogoteArt boutique hotel. This seems appropriate since El MogoteArt is in a setting of pure natural magic located within the heart of the Viñales Valley National Park with views of the famous gum-drop mogotes.

This comfortable hotel, a sanctuary for artists and creatively minded people, is more than just our home for the five days we share together in Viñales. El MogoteArt provides the foundation for an exquisitely curated journey into Cuba’s deep ingenuity and sophisticated artistic sensibilities. Our time is balanced between meeting and photographing Cuba’s organic farmers, entrepreneurs, dreamers, and artists as well as time for personal reflection and creative growth. Taking advantage of this dynamic natural setting and to foster this growth, two image review sessions led by Jennifer and Carlos are designed to spark thoughtful visual storytelling ideas.

After winding our way out of Viñales, we trade mountains for water and settle-in for 3 nights in Santa Fé, Havana. You read that right – Santa Fé, Havana, which is located in the municipality of Playa, a 20-minute drive from Havana Vieja. Here we stay at Casa Sarita which boasts phenomenal sunsets overlooking the water, hammocks swaying in the sea breeze, a private outdoor bar, and a perfect space for our creative adventures to continue. Santa Fé borders the small fishing village of Jaimanitas, well known for its marina and the studio of artist Fuster.

During this part of our creative journey, we enjoy the benefits of VIP access to Havana’s innovative art gallery, nightclub, and music fusion hub, La Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC), with a special tour followed by a gourmet dinner. Also included during our time in Havana are private meetings with the Curator of the popular Havana Biannual and the Director of Fototeca de Cuba. These conversations are centered around learning what makes photographic projects resonate, from their valued experience. In addition, we take time to visit a number of Havana’s lesser-known neighborhoods continuing our quest to uncover authentic Cuba and find hidden gems for unique photographic opportunities.

Our Creative Cuba Experience leads us off the beaten path through small towns, rich with history and local color, then behind the scenes in vibrant Havana. Our days are threaded with delicious meals filled with many farm-to-table experiences. The main focuses of our travels are enjoying a relaxing experience while widening our understanding of Cuba and creating more mindful, project-driven images. Join Carlos and Jennifer for an exclusive and memorable journey to discover the artistic character of Cuba and heighten our own creative aspirations. 

Additional Information

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

This SFW Cuba program is open to amateur, advanced amateur, and professional photographers. This special program is limited to three couples.

What You Should Know:

Participants should be technically self-sufficient, as this is not a program to learn how to use your gear or editing software. Participants should be in very good health with good stamina and mobility, as long days are spent exploring—this means walking, sometimes for two to three hours at a time, occasionally up steep stairs, steep hills, and along uneven terrain.

Categories
Nature & Landscape, One-of-a-Kind, Portraiture
© Nerissa Escanlar
about
Jennifer Spelman

Jennifer Spelman is a sensitive documentary and fine-art photographer, as well as a playful observer of the subtleties of human activity. Her images pop with insight and imagination, exciting curiosity and suggesting secrets. As an educator and trip leader, Jennifer is in high demand for her creative instructional insights, easy-going nature, and sharply-honed international photography travel acumen.

Since 2011, Jennifer has co-instructed domestic and international photography workshops for National Geographic Expeditions, OneWorldSeen, and Santa Fe Workshops through Morocco, India, Cuba, Turkey, Romania, Mexico, Vietnam, and Japan. She is especially proud of the many imaginative and immersive photo trips she has co-led in elusive Cuba. Jennifer also co-founded the niche publication, CubaSeen, and is engaged in Santa Fe Workshops’ popular Mentorship Program ».

about
Carlos Otero Blanco

Carlos Otero Blanco is a photographer who specializes in underwater photography. Despite the fact that Carlos left Cuba after finishing high school in Havana to study hydrogeologic science in a university institute of the city of Novocherkas, Russia, he recalls art was always his main interest. In fact, in the cruise ship that took him to the late Soviet Union, he was already shooting b/w film with a Zorki camera, one of the few available in Cuba in the 80’s. Carlos recalls that very soon after arriving to Russia, he was already doing extracurricular activities with the institute’s photographer and starting to learn the trade. So, back to Cuba with a university title, Carlos never really went into what he study abroad, but instead sold his old Moskvich soviet car and bought his first digital cameras. Since then, photography has been the main tool for his artistic drive, with a wide range of thematic interests that span from documentary photography, to portraiture, to conceptual art, and nature.

In documentary photography, Carlos is probably best known for his photographic study on Cuban bedrooms, with hundreds of these shot all over Cuba since 2009. This effort of years (still ongoing) has led to a specific book (“Dormir con…” [“To Sleep with…”], co-authored by Enrique Rottenberg), has been shown in several national and international exhibits, and in recently featured articles in the New York Times (Cuba’s Secret Bedrooms), other publications, and books on Cuban photography.

Carlos is also a deep lover of nature and adventure photography. He has done studies in subaquatic archeology, and holds several diving master and instructor international titles. In consequence, Carlos is a certified subaquatic photographer and video instructor, and has participated in apnea and diving productions, and has won prizes in three international subaquatic photography contests.

The Travel Portfolio as a Zine
with Jennifer Spelman
The Cultural Portrait
with Jennifer Spelman
Festival Time in San Miguel de Allende
with Jennifer Spelman
In Search of Light in India
with Jennifer Spelman and Michael Amici
Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon
with Jennifer Spelman
South Africa
with Jennifer Spelman

Gorman on Gorman: Five Decades

November 17 - 19, 2020

Finding Your Voice

December 15 – 17, 2020

Wild Stories: The Perilous Art of Adventure Writing

December 1 – 4, 2020

Color, Light, and Design

January 4 - 21, 2021

You May Also Like

– Summer Season

Architectural Photography: Beauty and Structure

with Nick Merrick

July 7 – 11, 2025

The Travel Portfolio as a Zine

with Jennifer Spelman

June 5 – 23, 2025

A Natural Eye: The Expressive Landscape—Big Sur, California

with Eddie Soloway

December 2 – 7, 2025

In Search of Light in India

with Jennifer Spelman and Michael Amici

October 17 – 28, 2025

How to Talk and Write About Your Work

with Jean Miele

September 9 – September 26, 2025

Theatre of Botanicals

with Leanne Trivett S.

July 28 – August 14, 2025

Festival Time in San Miguel de Allende

with Jennifer Spelman

September 25 – 29, 2025

Day of the Dead in Oaxaca

with Marcela Taboada

October 29 – November 3, 2025

In Nature’s Embrace

with Xuan-Hui Ng

June 10 – 24, 2025

The Business of Fine-Art Photography

with Thomas Werner

July 14 – 31, 2025
– Summer Season

Nature's Embrace

with Xuan-Hui Ng

July 14 – 18, 2025
– Summer Season

An Intimate Portrait of Place: Northern New Mexico

with Lee Anne White

June 23 – 27, 2025
– Summer Season

The Cultural Portrait

with Jennifer Spelman

July 7 – 11, 2025

The Fine Art of Flat Lay

with Philippa Stanton

July 2 – 30, 2025

Diptychs, Triptychs, and Beyond

with Manuela Thames

September 16 – October 3, 2025

Get Seen: Submitting Your Work to Competitions, Festivals, and Galleries

with Sonia Goydenko

November 15 and 22, 2025