Research Catalog

Title

Black life in Cuba / foto C. Arias.

Author

Arias, Constantino

Publication

[1948?]-1957.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

• 42 items (two folders); 24 x 19 cm and smaller.
• 42 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;

Summary

Collection depicts aspects of Afro-Cuban life before the 1959 revolution in Havana, Cuba, from the late-1940s to 1957. The collection consists of individual and group portraits of workers, women and children, the poor, students, hospital patients, entertainers, and other celebrities; as well as views of nightclub patrons and entertainers, slum tenements, labor and student demonstrations and rallies against the government of President Flugencio Batista, and a funeral procession. Among the individuals shown are Cuban musicians Chano Pozo, El Chori and Arsenio Rodríquez; songwriter Joseíto Fernández; singer-actress Rita Montaner; painter Wilfredo Lam; author Juan Marinello; boxers Kid Gavilán and Niño Valdés; labor leader Lázaro Peña; and African American singers Eartha Kitt and Josephine Baker.

Subject

• Black people > Cuba
• Demonstrations > Cuba > Havana > 1940-1959
• Student movements > Cuba > Havana > 1950-1959
• Labor movement > Cuba
• Economic & social conditions > Cuba > 1940-1959
• Musicians > Cuba
• Dancers > Cuba
• Nightclubs > Cuba > Havana
• African American entertainers > Cuba > Havana
• Boxers (Sports) > Cuba
• Artists > Cuba
• Havana (Cuba)

Genre/Form

• Portrait photographs – 1940-1959.
• Group portraits – 1940-1959.
• Gelatin silver prints – 1940-1959.

Note

• Title devised by cataloger.
• All photographs bear photographer's hand stamp on verso. Most items bear handwritten captions on verso.

Terms of Use (note)

• Collection is restricted; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography (note)

• Constantino Arias Miranda (1920-1991) was a Cuban freelance photographer who recorded the spectrum of Cuban life during the 1940s to 1950s. From 1941 to 1956, he worked as the "official" photographer at the Hotel Nacional taking pictures of tourists and celebrities. However, Arias's interest in social issues led him to document Cuba's poorer classes, as well as record student and political demonstrations for leftest newspapers. After the 1959 Revolution, he studied journalism, joined journalistic organizations, notably the International Organization of Journalists, and worked for the magazine Bohemia. Arias died in Cuba in 1991.

Call Number

Sc Photo Portfolio (Arias, C.)

OCLC

1015567281

Author

Arias, Constantino, photographer.

Title

Black life in Cuba / foto C. Arias.

Production

[1948?]-1957.

Type of Content

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

Terms Of Use

Collection is restricted; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography

Constantino Arias Miranda (1920-1991) was a Cuban freelance photographer who recorded the spectrum of Cuban life during the 1940s to 1950s. From 1941 to 1956, he worked as the "official" photographer at the Hotel Nacional taking pictures of tourists and celebrities. However, Arias's interest in social issues led him to document Cuba's poorer classes, as well as record student and political demonstrations for leftest newspapers. After the 1959 Revolution, he studied journalism, joined journalistic organizations, notably the International Organization of Journalists, and worked for the magazine Bohemia. Arias died in Cuba in 1991.

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Research Call Number

Sc Photo Portfolio (Arias, C.)