09/02/12…..From Thame to Havana in ‘Fortunate Steps’

WITH his distinctive beard and beret, Thame photographer, John Comino James, is a familiar sight around the town, often taking photographs of local characters and buildings with his trusty Lica 35mm.

Collections of John’s black and white photographs have been published in at least two books of local interest, including ‘Nearly Every Tuesday,’ a series of pictures taken of the characters of Thame market, between 1989 and 1994.

But, parochial he is not! For many years, John has been a regular visitor to Havana in Cuba and an exhibition of portraits of the people he has come to know and respect, in one particular neighbourhood off the tourist track, is currently the subject of an exhibition at Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD.

The following, in John’s own words, explains the circumstances that led to this body of his work, and his attitude and approach to taking photographs in Havana:

I first visited Havana at the beginning of 2002: the photographs in this exhibition are selected from two independent bodies of work made during several visits over a seven-year period in two distinct areas of the city. Those made in the traditional 35mm format were made in Cayo Hueso, a part of Centro Habana, and those in panoramic format were all made in a single road, the Calzada del Diez de Octubre. Both are areas of historical significance although they are off the ?tourist beat? of Habana Vieja (Old Havana).

Havana has been described as a photographer?s paradise and from the very first I found much that was both unfamiliar and visually seductive: but it is precisely this initial novelty that must be, if not avoided, then at least worked through in order to gain a sense of the daily rhythms of life in the streets, to gain a sense of which are typical and which are unusual activities.

I have therefore been extremely fortunate in being able to return often to the city in the past seven years and continue my practice of photographing within defined and restricted areas. For without a developing sense of connection, of a relationship maturing beyond that first enchantment, without the opportunity to review my work in the months between visits, the photographs shown here and more particularly the books from which they are selected would not have come into existence.

I prefer to be open about the activity of photographing and, although I do make many candid photographs, I prefer to choose the rewards and take the risks of engagement rather than remaining at a distance. I have learnt that I feel more comfortable photographing where I am recognised and where something of what I am doing is known.

Each time I return I take not only extra copies of individual or group portraits to give away, but I also carry in my shoulder bag a sampler of my work; crude off-prints from scans printed three or four up on ordinary copy-paper, stapled into a cut-down manila folder. Because it seems to me only proper, a matter of courtesy to be able to show the way I photograph to anyone who asks, to show what I photograph, and to show how I represent to myself and thus to others a culture that is not my own. Often I have been unable to locate individuals who have entered my photographs, only to find that a person looking through my work has offered to pass the print on to someone they know or recognise. When this happens the picture leaves my hands and takes its chance entrusted to a stranger for the last part of its journey back to its source. More than once I have been stopped in the street and thanked for a photograph that has found its way home in this way.

Even before I knew that Cuba?s story would become part of my grandchildren?s cultural heritage, I became increasingly preoccupied with the need to learn something about the historical events that underpinned the life I was witnessing in the streets. I needed to establish a wider perspective in which to set the photographs for myself and to inform their presentation in books. More particularly, not to attempt this sort of understanding would, I felt, be disrespectful of the people I was meeting and the wider social context of my photographs.

I venture that it is not enough to regard the world as an orchard through which a photographer may pass picking freely the ripest visual fruit.

‘Fortunate Steps’ continues until February 24, and is open daily from 10am till 7pm, subject to College commitments.

Visitors are advised to ring the College Lodge beforehand 01865 274100.

John’s book, ‘Fortunate Steps’ is available from The Book House, Thame, price