Havana: Split Seconds

Book excerpt: In July 2015, Abe Kogan navigated the streets of Havana, camera in hand, capturing the evocative beauty of an isolated island frozen in time. Kogan's black-and-white photographs, devoid of picturesque tropical landscapes and charming beach scenes, are provocative, intimate portraits of the daily lives of the Habaneros. These inner-city vignettes reveal Havana's urban pulse and focus on the dynamic community that inhabits a world on the brink of change. This book captures life on the pavement, which is where Havana's citizens spend their time--gossiping over balconies and languishing in the doorways of the once-glorious buildings that have fallen into ruin, their expressions marked by both vitality and hardship.