Name: Spirit of Cuba
Item: Spirit of Cuba
Author: Travel Cuba With Us

The Spirit of Cuba Photography Workshop & Cultural Tour

Sanne Derks (b. 1979) is a Dutch documentary photographer and anthropologist (Ph.D.) based between Havana, Cuba and Arnhem, the Netherlands. Her work mainly focuses on social issues in Latin America and includes themes like climate-change resilience, water- housing- and human rights. For her Masters in the Psychology of Culture and Religion and her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, she worked for years in Bolivia. During her fieldwork for her dissertation on social inequality and religion in Bolivia, she got interested in visual storytelling. In 2016 she finished a postgraduate in Photojournalism at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, she started as a freelance photographer, mainly focusing on self-initiated projects.

The camera is her tool to discover the world unfolding in front of her lens. In particular, she loves the streets of Cuba, where she photographed severely in the past years. Her photobook Manifiesto del Agua, on how the right for clean drinking water in Cuba is managed at the socialist island, came out in 2024 and was exhibited and awarded worldwide. By focusing on the inventiveness with which Cubans deal with the daily water struggles, gives a profound understanding of contemporary socialist Cuba as it stands today. She is a National Geographic Explorer, a IWMF-grantee and a Eddie Adams alumna. Her work is published internationally in media such as the New York Times, Washington Post and the Guardian. In her work she mixes anthropological topics and methods with photography.

In this Workshop she will take you to the streets of Havana to catch the essence of urban Cuba, as well as to the magical Viñales Valley, to explore Cuba’s soul in the rural areas.

The workshop is open to all levels. Sanne will tailor each day to all individual needs and levels.

Travel Cuba With Us is a licensed Florida Seller of Travel (ST 44066) offering cultural tours to Cuba that comply with the Department of State’s OFAC regulations under the general license category Support for the Cuban People (SCP) 515.574. Owned and operated by Vanessa K. Harper and Alejandro Berroa, Travel Cuba provides quality, personalized cultural immersion experiences. Their signature programs include photography workshops, yoga retreats, art and coffee tours, and rural farm adventures. Vanessa and Alejandro offer a unique perspective and have close family and community ties that allow guests intimate insights into Cuba’s complex layers. Travel Cuba creates customized individual and group itineraries for solo travelers, as well as expertly crafted, pre-arranged group experiences across the island that open your mind, revitalize the spirit, and directly support the Cuban people.

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