Cuba in the 1990s in pictures by Tria Jovan

New York-based photographer Tria Jovan traveled to Cuba more than a dozen times in the early 1990s and took over 25,000 images, creating a multi‑layered and direct portrait of Liberty Island.

Tria Giovan is an avid traveler who grew up in the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. A young photographer from New York, she decided to go to Cuba to document in detail and comprehensively the life of the country, experiencing a severe economic depression. It has lost financial and diplomatic support, entering a protracted "special period" marked by a difficult energy and food situation.

But Jovan didn't go because of politics. She went to Cuba as an objective observer, interested in this relatively isolated country. It all started with a one-time trip organized by the Center for Cuban Studies, but was followed by 11 trips that lasted for months and repeated over six years. 

During this time, Jovan took about 25,000 pictures, 100 of which were published in the book "Cuba: the elusive Island", published in 1996 by Harry N. Abrams.

For a long time, the rest of the images were stored as negatives. 25 years after her first trip to Cuba, Jovan revised her originals and created a digital archive of more than 450 images. Looking into them, everyone was able to look back in time, to see the country in its former guise. The author published the photo album "Archive of Cuba" only in 2018. It won the Best Documentary Book award at the International Photography Award 2018.

Delving into the history, literature and politics of the country, Tria noted: