'Cuba: A Grace of Spirit'

So, this day, two news items of equal import from my friend and friend-o'-TOP Peter Turnley, who visited me here in Upstate New York last week.

First, today is publication day for Peter's newest book, Cuba: A Grace of Spirit.

Peter's first self-published book (although he had many books published commercially prior to it, both with his twin brother David and alone) was French Kiss: A Love Letter to Paris, and TOP readers were instrumental in its considerable success. (It sold out its first press run, which was large for a photobook, and is now in a second printing.) Cuba: A Grace of Spirit is similar in a lot of ways: it's a premium production with a deluxe hardcover binding, fine reproductions, and a beautifully made slipcase. Every copy will be signed by the photographer and the book will not be available in bookstores.

More about the book in a moment.

The second item of news is something I find quite amazing: Peter is going to be the very first American artist of any kind since the Cuban Revolution to receive a major show at Cuba's most prestigious art museum, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana (the National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana). It will be a comprehensive career retrospective of his work.

This is undoubtedly a high point of Peter's ongoing career as well as a significant moment in the new epoch of Cuba's relationship with the United States and the world. I find it extremely impressive, and also, somehow, curiously encouraging...real "from life" photography getting some serious, respectful, celebratory attention on a major stage. The show, which is called "Momentos de la Condicion Humana" (Moments of the Human Condition) will run from November 13 through February 15th.

The curators at the Museo Nacional could not have made a better choice, in any event. Peter Turnley loves Cuba. He first went to Cuba to photograph Mikhail Gorbachev and Fidel Castro in 1989, and the new book is the culmination of half a lifetime of constant travel to the island. As some TOP readers know firsthand, he teaches workshops there. More recently, he became convinced that Cuba was approaching a turning point in its history and he intensified his travel schedule—he estimates he's been there, for different reasons but always to photograph, 20 times in the past four years.

My first reaction to the book was that it's the first time I've seen such a forthright portrait purely of the Cuban people. Cuba is picturesque, and so many photographers treat it like a "photo opportunity," mining the low-hanging fruit of its bright colors and signs of poverty and the obsolete '50s American cars for their quaint picturesque qualities in ways we've all seen before. Of course those elements are present (if subdued) in the new book. But what Peter calls "the vibrant, joyful, resilient, courageous, beautiful, and elegant spirit of the Cuban people" is what he loves best and respects most, and that's what you'll find front and center. It's really the subject of the book. (He also notes that this spirit "transcends politics and change," and signifiers of both take a back seat.)

I also think the book shows some interesting things about Peter's growth as an artist, but I'll leave those thoughts to another time.

Price
Last time, French Kiss was planned from the first to sell at a regular price of $85 (perfectly reasonable for a self-published book in a sturdy slipcase—self-publishing is more expensive than commercial publishing), and $69 was supposed to be a temporary, introductory price; but copies sold so fast Peter simply never raised the price. After the first printing sold out, he invested in a second printing, and there are still some of those left—still offered at that introductory price of $69.

So, the introductory price of Cuba: A Grace of Spirit is $69. And may stay there. Or might not. The edition is 3,000.

You can see some of the page spreads at the sale page, plus a video.

Oh, and if you missed French Kiss: A Love Letter to Paris, Peter is offering both books for a special price. (Saves on shipping and handling if people buy both at once.) Scroll down on the sale page for that. (Even if you already have a copy of French Kiss, you know what a great gift book it could be...for anyone you love, or for anyone you know who loves France.)

Every copy of both books will be signed.

And, any sales that come from here benefit TOP as well.

Photo by David Burnett

Congratulations to Peter, on both counts, and I look forward to hearing what people think of the new book. I'll present a "mini-portfolio" of my favorite pictures from the book sometime in the next few weeks. I might actually go to Havana for the show. When else am I ever going to get to Cuba?

Here's the link to the book again.

Mike
(Thanks to Peter)

Original contents copyright 2015 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
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Comments

[Hugh Smith]

Mike
If Cuba is anything like French Kiss, it's a gold mine and a bargain.
My two pesos

[Ken Tanaka]

Congratulations, Peter! With the normalization of U.S. - Cuban relations Cuba will quickly become a new American theme park. That is, we are about to see the full avalanche of Cuban visual cliches flood into Internet photo sites. So it's wonderful that someone with such keen skills and intense vision will be the first American photographer to show in Cuba and set the high water mark early.

[Herman Krieger]

Cuban Photographer-


from the series, "See See Havana".

[Tom Burke]

I've no doubt they're wonderful images (I bought French Kiss) but postage to the UK is a rather eye-watering $45. That's almost 2/3 of the price of the book.

[Bob Smith]

Purchase made. The wonderful thing about Peter aside from his talent is him. I emailed him after the purchase with a few queries and observations and he responded almost immediately.

If I can ever afford to take a photo workshop it will be with Peter. He's just a great guy, and yes that's based on only emails but his spirit comes out even in something as simple as that.

[Michel]

If you enjoy Conan O'Brien's sense of humour you might find clips of his visit to Cuba fun. There are a couple more that are not featured in this playlist.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVL8S3lUHf0QDcdBy2Vjx706EemjnE5Yg

[Roberto]

Not fully clear, is it enough to go to the sale page from Top to benefit you, like for Amazon purchases?
By the way, I got directly the mail advertising the new book as I'm a customer of the previous (and of one of Peter's prints), but I refrained, thinking that something would have appeared here. It did faster than I expected.

[Rod Thompson]

Thanks for the heads up on that. Turnley and color.....wow, perfection.
Bought and paid!

[John Betancourt]

Minor point, and not to take away from Peter's excellent work, Antonio Martorell, a Puertorrican graphic artist and an American citizen has had a number of shows there. Most recently in april 2014.

[Peter Barnes]

* Two book special available for U.S. orders only. :(

[Roger Bradbury]

a "mini-portfolio" of your favourite pictures from the book, huh? Can't wait, but will just have to, I suppose. (Whinge, moan)

When you announced that you had news about a good friend of TOP's that we knew well, I thought that it was even odds for: Peter Turnley with more photos to blow our minds with, or Ctein with regular posts on aspects of photography most of us have never even considered, to do likewise. I knew I'd be happy either way.

[Peter]

Cuba is a very interesting place. My thoughts and pics...

https://medium.com/@hookstrapped/before-the-flood-14b5488028f3

[Tom Bell]

Bought French Kiss ... loved it. My daughter aged 19 worked in Paris and fell in love with it ...

I gave her my "French Kiss" for X max!

Would love to buy the new book + French Kiss but no double deals for us poor guys on this side of the Channel.

[Richard G]

I found the title of French Kiss limits its appeal and limited the number of people I could consider giving it to. I also find the current title rings more hollow than it should. Grace is a word that should carry a phrase, as is spirit. To use both diminishes the weight of either. I am not saying there is anything at all insincere about the title, just that lexically it could have been improved. I look forward to seeing the photographs which I have no doubt will be great.