About This Gallery
Steven Brock - Cuba
I remember my first impressions of Cuba. We arrived at night and as we entered Havana, I was surprised how dark it was. There were few cars on the road, more bikes and pedestrians. As we drove down the dark streets I could see people leaning in doorways, a bare light bulb here and there. It seemed so different from all the lights and cars of an American night.
As we walked towards the water the first morning the streets were a buzz of activity. Two boys arm in arm each wearing one roller-blade, big crowded buses, American cars from the 50's and little Russian taxis, horse carriages and bicycle rickshaws, the warm tropical air pungent with the smell of tobacco.
We heard live music on a side street, and as we approached we were invited inside a bare stucco room where a 6-piece jazz band was rehearsing for a gig the next day. A woman passing by stopped at the doorway to dance, smiling and gyrating her large round frame.
As we explored Havana on foot we noticed that there was no clear border between the outside world and inside world. Doorways often opened into courtyards, street-level windows opened into living rooms, people flowed in and out of buildings without opening doors. There seemed to be nothing to hide and no materials to protect.
Evidence of the revolution was everywhere. All the large buildings were owned by the government or converted into apartments. The stores where Cubans shopped offered only the basic necessities. Nobody had it easy. We met symphony violinists who earned $20 per month.
Everybody tells you that Cuba is a friendly place, and it's true. The US government's boycott and travel restriction on Cuba is ridiculous not only because it deprives Cubans of basic necessities but it also keeps Americans from experiencing first hand the generous Cuban spirit.
About the Photographer
At the end of high school my father gave me a Leica camera and book of Cartier Bresson's photography. I’ll never forget the sensation of shooting those first rolls, transforming objects through the lens into b&w prints on paper.
At the end of college I received a Watson Fellowship and traveled to Peru and Nepal. I photographed during my travels as a way to establish a link with the people and places I was meeting. I knew I would return again and again with camera and prints in hand.
Now I can't tell which desire comes first, practicing the art of b&w photography, or travelling to foreign lands with eyes wide open. As soon as one body of work is printed, I am planning the next trip. I feel a need to see how people in different cultures live and I try to bring a little slice of their wisdom through the lens and into my life.
My work is available through the Shapiro Gallery in San Francisco or through contacting me at: gringoesteban@earthlink.net.
Selected Solo Photography Exhibitions
2003 Shapiro Gallery, 760 Market, San Francisco, CA
2003 Point Reyes Books, Point Reyes, CA
2000 Shapiro Gallery
1998 Theater Artaud, 450 Florida, San Francisco
1998 Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St., San Francisco
1998 Sacred Circle Studio, 612 NW 12th Street, Portland, OR
1998 Adolph Gassers, 181 2nd St., San Francisco, CA
1997 Sacred Circle Studio, 612 NW 12th Street, Portland, OR
1997 Shapiro Gallery, 250 Sutter, San Francisco, CA
1996 Yancey Richardson Gallery, 560 Broadway, New York, NY
1995 Shapiro Gallery, 250 Sutter, 3rd Fl., San Francisco, CA
1994 Cavalo, 68 Throckmorton, Mill Valley, CA
1992 Shapiro Gallery, 250 Sutter, San Francisco, CA
1990 U C Berkeley, School of Journalism, Berkeley, CA
1989 Shapiro Gallery, 210 Post St., Suite 412, San Francisco, CA
1988 Catamount Arts Center, St. Johnsbury, VT
1987 Dartmouth College, Hanover, NHSelected Group Photography Exhibitions
1989-2002 Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Tatistcheff, 50 West 57th Street, New York, NY
1996 Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
1990 Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA
1990 Vision Gallery, 1155 Mission, San Francisco, CA
1990 Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Monterey, CA
1989 The Maine Photographic Workshops, Rockport, ME
1988 Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission, San Francisco, CAEducation
1981 BA Northern Studies, Middlebury College
Selected Published Work
2003 Point Reyes Light, 6-3-03
2000 San Francisco Chronicle, 1-30-2000, Datebook, page 19
1997 Arts & Culture, Fall 1997, Portland, Oregon
1996 New York Times, Sunday June 16, 1996, Arts and Leisure, page 41
1996 New Yorker, July 22, page 14, page 16
1996 New York Post, June 22
1995 Global Network Navigator (GNN)
1994 Photography in New York, March/April 1994, pg. 41
1992 ZYZZYVA, Vol. VII No. 3, p. 101-106
1992 Artweek, Vol. 23, No. 30, p. 4
1992 Photo Review, Vol. 15, No. 3
1990 Photo Metro, Vol. 9, Issue 83, Cover & pg. 6
1990 ZYZZYVA, Vol. VI, No. 1, p. 115-117
1989 Photo Review, Vol. 12, No. 3
1989 Golden Light Awards, Maine Photographic Workshop, Catalogue
1988 California Magazine, August 1988
1988 Oakland Tribune, August 12
1988 Bay Guardian, August 5
1987 El Tecolote, Vol. 18, No. 3Collections
Reader's Digest Levi-Strauss
Tatischeff Gallery, Pfizer Corporation
Melvin Rubin / David Lamonde
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriever, & JacobsonAwards, Grants
1990 Photo Metro, Annual Contest, cover photo
1989 Photo Review, Annual Contest, Mary Ellen Mark, juror
1988 Maine Photographic Workshop, Work Grant, $2500
1988 Imagine: The Mission, Mission Cultural Center, Grand prize
1982 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, $10,000, Study in Peru and Nepal
1980 Explorers Club, Study Grant, $800 Morocco Expedition
1979 Explorers Club, Study Grant, $800 Alaska ExpeditionTeaching Positions
1996-2000, Academy of Art College, San Francisco
All photos © 2003 - Steven Brock, unless indicated otherwise.Other Photo Galleries