Resolver

01. Resolver Ghost
Resolver Ghost
02. Selfportrait
Selfportrait
03. Street
Street

RESOLVER

Life in Havanna

”RESOLVER – Life In Havana” with photographs from Havana and text by Lars Palmgren. The pictures were taken in 2013 and tells the story about the daily life in Havana the time before Castro’s death.

Av Lars Palmgren

Cuba is a scarred memory of grand dreams. A monument to a time that has passed. A living fossil. But Cubans are not fossils, they live here and now. In a time of boundless patience. Patience is needed when waiting. And in Cuba, waiting is such a common condition that one easily forgets what one is waiting for.

But the stagnation of waiting can also be a glimmer. Because there, in the middle of a standstill, there is a movement that is not always noticeable, which the Cubans call ”resolver”. ”Resolver” means solving a problem – of any kind. ”Resolver” is the most common verb in Cuban vocabulary. But ”resolver” is not just an individual act, it is one invisible social web, a complex network of social relations. Officially, this social web does not exist, but it is the one that largely supports Cuban society. Without it, society would stop and loneliness become deadly serious. But the web is there. Both to solve problems and provide fellowship. It was also thanks to him that Fidel Castro’s death was received so surprisingly quietly. Life is no longer dependent on the historical leaders of the revolution. Cuba has almost imperceptibly become a country where life follows laws other than those prescribed by the revolution, laws that have nothing to do with law, but with survival. It is a change in many phases. But which in recent times, thanks to new opportunities to travel, has gained a new impulse that has connected the social fabric with the outside world and by just the speed has released a wave of creativity; everything from the home construction of three-wheeled bicycle taxis with parts that do not really exist, over an informal import industry that is almost as big as the formal one, to systems for access to the internet – without having to be connected. The ability to ”resolver” constantly surprises. And it is precisely from the hope that it will happen that patience is born, in the midst of the visible stagnation of waiting. Maybe there are even ways to slow down the decay and turn Havana into the pearl of the Caribbean that Cuba’s capital should be.

04. Woman dressed in White
Woman dressed in White
05. Man dressed in White
Man dressed in White
06. Look alike
Look alike
07. Early fifties American car
Early fifties American car
08. Fingerman
Fingerman
09. Sleeping Dog
Sleeping Dog
10. Coffin
Coffin
11. Streetcorner
Streetcorner
12. Woman smoking
Woman smoking
13. House behind gate
House behind gate
14. Cigarrwoman
Cigarrwoman
15. Tricycle
Tricycle
16. Electrical wire
Electrical wire
17. Woman on couch
Woman on couch
18. Shadowed shed
Shadowed shed
19. Phonegirl
Phonegirl
20. Beauty Saloon
Beauty Saloon
21. Man behind Column
Man behind Column
22. Havana Cars
Havana Cars
23. Woman behind grid
Woman behind grid
24. Man in the Trunk
Man in the Trunk
25. Man behind grid
Man behind grid
26. Townsquare
Townsquare
27. Scaffolding
Scaffolding

Some photos are for sale

photograph icon More info