Visit to Cuba crowned with photos for exhibit

At an opening night reception last week, Nick Mariano concluded that his photo exhibit from a summer trip to Cuba hit home, especially for some viewers.

Hearing some guests say they dropped in see images from their homeland provided a pleasant surprise for the Myrtle Beach area resident and Bernadette Delgado, owner of the host gallery, MISC – Everything Murrells Inlet, 4124 U.S. 17 Business, Unit D, Murrells Inlet.

The exhibit of about a dozen framed images, covering part of a wall and in a calendar for sale, along with 150 more photos on a cycle on a computer screen by the front door, will continue for at least another week. The gallery, across from The Wicked Tuna, is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays.

Mariano, a scuba diving instructor and retired special agent who spent more than 25 years in the U.S. State Department Bureau of Special Security, tours the world with his camera. He was a S.C. State Parks artist-in-residence last year at Hickory Knob State Resort Park, southwest of Columbia. He also has written four books (www.myrtlebeachbooks.us), the latest of which is a novel, “Attack on the Homeland,” and completion of “The Silo” is on deck.

With U.S. and Cuban tour guides on a 10-day visit, his first time in Cuba in more than three decades, Mariano said he snapped about 1,000 photos. Many residents were welcoming when he asked permission to frame them through his lens. Seeing classic automobiles, especially a Studebaker Lark, impressed him. No photography was allowed, though, in a national cigar factory, for protection of the process that distinguishes that world renowned product.

Question | Amid the thaw in some channels of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, was planning and visiting the island this summer easier than for your first visit in the 1980s?

Answer | The trip we did this year was a people-to-people exchange, so the company we went through did all the preparations, including airline tickets, visas, hotel, meals, tours, tour guides, and arrangements to visit who we visited. My first visit was government arranged; I was traveling on my diplomatic passport, and even though the Cubans kept tabs on me, I’m sure, I was allowed to roam around the city whenever I wasn’t working. In neither instance, was there any sort of harassment by the Cuban government.

Q. | What memories of architecture and cultural treasures Cubans hold dear did you bring home after your 10-day visit?

A. | The architecture and churches, and even the hotel we stayed at, The Grand Nacional in Havana – vintage 1930 – are all great pieces of architecture, however, everything from the architecture to the classic cars are now showing their age. Unfortunately, the country hasn’t maintained the buildings for one reason or another, but they are still great to see and photograph. Hopefully, if the economy improves and the government realizes the tourist draw, things will start to get fixed up.

Q. | Seeing made-in-the-USA classic cars still rolling as taxis, what was your favorite model?

A. | The two main cars in Cuba are the Chevrolets and Fords, and they are everywhere, either being used as taxis or still being driven by their Cuban owners. Managed one ride in a Chevy convertible and did some photos, but unfortunately, most of our organized tours were via motor coach.

Q. | With your resume of global travel – for work and in pleasure – and taking in so many locales most people only dream of seeing, where does Cuba rank in your book?

A. | I have visited numerous cities and countries in my career with the U.S. government, and I have to say there are many other countries, such as India, Nepal, and many of the African and Asian countries that have sights and scenes much more spectacular than Cuba. My main interest in returning there after almost 30 years was to see how much it had changed and also to see things before the tourist ships and thousands of Americans converged on it. I also wanted to see it again before new buildings, hotels, fast-food chains, etc., started popping up there, which I think will eventually happen, but maybe the government won’t allow this. Who knows?

Q. | Any consideration given to exhibiting these photos for the Cuban expatriate community in Miami?

A. | I’ve never thought of doing anything in Florida, for I think the vast majority of the Cuban expatriate community is still fairly much opposed to the Castro regime. I don’t think they can forgive that country for what had taken place in the past, both during and after the revolution by Fidel Castro in 1959. Four native Cubans came to the photo exhibit at MISC, and although they enjoyed seeing photos of Cuba today, they said that they still could never go back there to visit as long as total freedoms were still excluded from the population.

I must say, however, that most of the Cubans we encountered during our trip and spoke with, appeared to be happy with their lives and living in Cuba. Many said they hoped and believed that things can only get better with normalization of ties with the United States. I have also sent out requests to a number of galleries and some colleges nearby that are looking for solo artists for shows, and proposed a Cuba photo exhibit, and perhaps talks on Cuba for people who attend.

Q. | This past winter and spring, the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach presented “Voices of the Island: The Cuban Art Collection of Reynier Llanes,” which painted a colorful portrayal of the people and landscape, as exhibited in your photos. Meeting and approaching people with your camera, what was the common thread and hope you sensed in their personas?

A. | I think the average Cuban appeared to be content with the government in Cuba and especially since Fidel Castro’s brother, Raul Castro, has taken over. They believe that better times are coming and that some liberties that they have been excluded from will be forthcoming, in essence, more religious freedom and being able to trade with the United States. I did not meet anyone in my recent travels there who opposed renewing ties with the United States or who dammed the existing government. Everyone seemed very upbeat.

This story was originally published October 18, 2015 at 8:20 AM with the headline "Visit to Cuba crowned with photos for exhibit."