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Joe Guerriero fell in love with Cuba and its people when he visited the country in 1999. But he also saw a country that the United States’ trade embargo had devastated.

Guerriero, who began his photography career around 40 years ago as a documentarian and photojournalist, began a project in 2010 to capture images centered on the effects of the embargo.

“It’s hard to go there without taking a photograph that doesn’t say something about the embargo,” Guerriero said. “Once you’re in Cuba, once you get past the interesting cars and buildings and the art, the fact of the embargo really just hits you in the face. It’s there all the time.”

Guerriero’s project, “Waiting For Normal,” opens Thursday and will be on view through Jan. 17 at ArtRage Gallery in Syracuse. The exhibit’s mission is for people to learn the untold stories of individuals affected by the embargo.

Guerriero’s exhibit “Waiting for Normal” documents the trade embargo in Cuba and can be seen in-person or online at ArtRage Gallery in Syracuse. Courtesy of Joe Guerriero

The exhibit was originally scheduled to run in June and July but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The exhibit will be featured both in-person at ArtRage and online, and people can reserve a time to view the exhibit on ArtRage’s website.

Each of the 32 photographs in the exhibit, taken between 1999 and 2019, help people understand how the embargo has impacted Cuban society over time, Guerriero said.

“I’m hoping that they can get a feeling of what it’s really like in Cuba, even with the hardships that the Cuban people endure and have been enduring for so many years,” Guerriero said. “People didn’t have access to necessities like toothpaste, toilet paper and soap. I want people to understand that these are the lives that these people are living.”

Guerriero’s 2013 film, “Curtain of Water,” also influenced the idea for the exhibit, said Kimberley McCoy, the community engagement coordinator at ArtRage. The film, which features interviews from Cuban Americans and aims to teach people about the embargo, will be available online for free throughout the duration of the exhibit.

McCoy said the museum chose to focus the exhibit on the embargo because it’s important for viewers to understand how the U.S. government’s decisions have harmed Cuba.

“What most people haven’t realized is that nothing has changed. The fact is that we are being unfair and have a policy going that is over 50 years old,” Guerriero said. “Nothing has changed, and we are continuing to hurt the people more than they’re already being hurt.”

At first, Guerriero was unsure how Cubans and Americans were going to accept his work. He said that people in Cuba tend to stay clear of talking about politics, especially with strangers and foreigners.

Cuban American painter and photographer Geandy Pavón is featured in the film, which he said represents his life. It’s important for people to talk and learn about what’s going on in Cuba, as “it is a matter of human rights,” he said.

Guerriero believes that talking about the embargo is the only way to create change. He hopes his photographs encourage people to learn more about how warm and friendly Cuban people are and how the embargo “has really just stunted certain aspects of Cuban life.”

“Hopefully people will contact their congressman and make something happen,” Guerriero said. “It’s the only thing that we can do to get rid of this crazy embargo.”

Published on October 21, 2020 at 9:50 pm