Cuba I

José María Mellado was born in Almería, in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. He is often cited as Spain’s leading authority on digital photography and has written several books on the subject. Over the last five years he has increasingly turned his camera to the land-scape, both natural and urban, creating a series of monumental prints such as this one. Mellado’s work as a photographer often takes advantage of the ethereal early evening light, as seen in this work. However, he is also interested in how landscapes reveal traces of human presence and in showing the beauty in the commonplace. This photograph, taken in Cuba, is part of a series of photographs of Cuba he is currently working on but which has not yet been published as a book. The photo-graph vividly documents not only the fading natural light but also the meticulously maintained ancient Chevrolet and the universal joy of a summer evening’s dance.