Before the World Shut Down, There Was Cuba

Just prior to the global lockdown, twelve students, two teachers from the Dawson College Photography Program and clothing stylist, Sophie Lanza, travelled to Havana Cuba, to participate in workshops on travel and fashion photography.

The vibrant culture, warm people and faded beauty of its baroque architecture make Havana an ideal choice for a location to practice photography 

The six students in the fashion photography workshop worked with a local producer, models and a creative team on photoshoots on the streets of central Havana and in a Vedado mansion, Josie Alonso House (where photographer Annie Leibowitz photographed Rhianna for Vanity Fair). The fashion workshop students participated in lighting demonstrations before each of their own shoots.

The other six students in the travel photography workshop, spent two days with local guides, visiting the family of one of the guides on their farm a few hours away from the capital city in Vinales. They also spent a day touring and photographing the city and a local ballerina. 

Laurel Breidon & David Hopkins