Women behind the lens: Meeting Juana again was particularly precious
Photographer Marylise Vigneau finds ordinary Cubans struggling with daily life after the devastating impact of the Covid pandemic
One can find beauty, joy of life, intelligence or bravery in many places in the world. And Cuba has a lot of all these things. Yet, somehow, Cuba is different to me. The alchemy that persists in this place is like no other. Caught between America and the Caribbean, its 1,200km (745 mile) length undulates as if to escape from a half-open jaw.
To visit Cuba at the beginning of 2022 after the hiatus of the pandemic was deeply saddening. I always try to give a print to people I have photographed, but found that three of them had died of Covid. The pandemic caused the health system – the last bastion of Cuban pride – to collapse. People are now afraid to go to the hospital.
I try to see Juana every time I come to Cuba. She is 80 years old, and this photograph shows her playing with her nephew’s boxing gloves on the staircase of her building. She lives alone in a tiny apartment. Since the economic reforms in 2021, finding food without having foreign currency has become an ordeal, and she barely manages to feed herself.
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Meeting her again was particularly precious. During my previous visit in 2019, she had disappeared. Neighbours told me she had gone to live with her son in the east of the island. I had little hope when I climbed the stairs to her flat. After the emotion of the reunion, she showed me, carefully wrapped in a handkerchief, a bottle of perfume I had given her in 2015. “It makes me travel,” she said, smelling it.
Marylise Vigneau is an award-winning documentary photographer with a global portfolio, based in Pakistan. She has a particular interest in how people are affected by borders, both physical and mental. Preferring to work on long-term projects, she returns to the same places and subjects whenever she can. Instagram: @marylisevigneau
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