Jan Sochor Photography

photo essays

Comandante and the people

A Cuban shop assistant holds a large portrait photo of the Cuban Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, Havana.

A Cuban shop assistant holds a large portrait photo of the Cuban Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, Havana, Cuba.

Cuban women work in front of a large portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of dress-maker's in Havana.

Cuban women work in front of a large portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of dress-maker's in Havana, Cuba.

A Cuban bakery employees stand in front of a wall covered by pictures of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, Alamar (the Eastern Havana).

A Cuban bakery employees stand in front of a wall covered by pictures of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, Alamar (the Eastern Havana), Cuba.

A Cuban watchmaker works in front of a wall covered by pictures of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders in Havana.

A Cuban watchmaker works in front of a wall covered by pictures of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders in Havana, Cuba.

An old Cuban man sells propaganda books and posters of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders in a second-hand book shop in Havana.

An old Cuban man sells propaganda books and posters of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders in a second-hand book shop in Havana, Cuba.

A Cuban woman waits, sitting on a sofa, in an entrance room to the Cuban state office in Havana.

A Cuban woman waits, sitting on a sofa, in an entrance room to the Cuban state office in Havana, Cuba.

A Cuban office worker watching a painted portrait of the Cuban Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, hung on the wall of the Cuban state office in Santiago de Cuba.

A Cuban office worker watching a painted portrait of the Cuban Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, hung on the wall of the Cuban state office in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

A Cuban man works in front of a portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of a movable locksmithery in Alamar (the Eastern Havana).

A Cuban man works in front of a portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of a movable locksmithery in Alamar (the Eastern Havana), Cuba.

A Cuban worker watching an iconic portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of a working room in Havana.

A Cuban worker watching an iconic portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of a working room in Havana, Cuba.

A Cuban woman stands behind the shop counter, holding a flower, in front of a wall covered by photos of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders, Santiago de Cuba.

A Cuban woman stands behind the shop counter, holding a flower, in front of a wall covered by photos of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

A Cuban office worker typing under a painted portrait of the Cuban Revolutionary leader and poet Raul Gomez Garcia, hung on the wall of the Cuban state office in Santiago de Cuba.

A Cuban office worker typing under a painted portrait of the Cuban Revolutionary leader and poet Raul Gomez Garcia, hung on the wall of the Cuban state office in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

A Cuban man stands behind the shop counter under a portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of a shop in Havana.

A Cuban man stands behind the shop counter under a portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of a shop in Havana, Cuba.

A Cuban man stands in front of a portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of a vegetable market in Havana.

A Cuban man stands in front of a portrait of the Revolutionary leader Che Guevara, hung on the wall of a vegetable market in Havana, Cuba.

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Comandante and the people

Cuba, July 2008 – March 2009

During the Cuban Revolution, an armed rebellion at the end of the 1950s in Cuba, most of the revolutionary leaders started as no-name soldiers fighting in the jungle. As those young men risked unselfishly their lives in the name of the country's better future, soon they gained the hearts and genuine support of all poor Cubans. Although the revolutionary leaders, after taking over the power, became autocratic rulers holding almost absolute power and putting the opposition in jail, for some reason Cuban people have never stopped to worship Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raul Castro and others. Cubans hang their photos and portraits on the wall in homes, shops and working places even they don't have to. The people of Cuba love their heroes.

Photography by Jan Sochor
Music by Carlos Varela – “Una palabra”, Nubes (2000) – Grafitti Music Records / SGAE

Photography Copyright © 2002-2010 Jan Sochor
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