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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eighty-two: A city portrait -- impressions of Havana, Cuba. > Torcedora, Vinales, Cuba, 2012
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10-MAY-2012

Torcedora, Vinales, Cuba, 2012

Vinales is several hours out of Havana, in the Pinar del Rio Provence of Cuba. It is home to many tobacco farms. We stopped at one of them to meet a man who rolls hand made cigars. Such people are known as Torcedoras. Many photographers crowded around him, making pictures of the cigar rolling process itself. I preferred to express the character and personality of the Torcedora by making this portrait of him as he showed off his handiwork. He held up the finished cigar for me while still savoring the smoke of another. Wisps of smoke float across his lips and nose. He is utterly self-confident, and not afraid to let us know it.

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Phil Douglis30-May-2012 18:56
Yes, Celia -- he is a good salesman. His product is sold at the counter. (Unfortunately, US citizens can not bring these cigars back home with them. They are embargoed, as are all of Cuba's exports.
Cecilia Lim29-May-2012 22:31
He smokes his own work! Couldn't have been a better endorsement!
Phil Douglis27-May-2012 18:24
Thank you, Carol, for mentioning pride. He does take great pride in his work, and I think that human value comes through in this image. I made dozens of images of him as he worked, and this was the most engaging and true to character. (And no, I did not try a cigar in Cuba -- for many years, I puffed on a pipe, but my doctor insists I stay away from any kind of smoke.)
Carol E Sandgren27-May-2012 05:03
He does look proud of his finished product as well as thoroughly enjoying that smoke. The pursed lips and the wisps of smoke really do make this image sing.

(Did you try one too?)
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