Michael Christopher Brown: Yo Soy Fidel

Description

Yo Soy Fidel follows the cortege of Fidel Castro, former Cuban revolutionary and politician, over a period of several days in late 2016. Michael Christopher Brown leaned out a rear passenger window of his passing vehicle in order to photograph Cubans waiting alongside the highway for Fidel's military convoy, carrying his cremated remains from Havana to Santiago, to pass. The route mirrored Fidel's post-revolution journey from Santiago to Havana in 1959, which helped solidify his hero and legend. In Yo Soy Fidel , fragments of this initial image have survived his death though perhaps inevitably lead to a question of what is to come. A country largely seen for half a century as a symbol of dignity and hope in the fight against imperialism, Cuba has a choice - stay true to Fidel's revolutionary path or succumb to globalization and all it entails.

In Yo Soy Fidel, fragments of the original - inimitable - image of Castro remain.-- "PDN's Notable Photo Books of 2018" Mr. Brown's photos of ordinary Cubans are an extraordinary portrait of a nation in mourning.--Rumaan Alam "The New York Times Holiday Gift Guide 2018"