Ode to freedom

“Even the most skilled of photographers frown upon sentimental ideology as selective factors in an image. In my case these are the determining factors which decide the subject and the circumstances for the camera to focus on,” says Moya,over an email interview,about this set of photographs taken in 1964. Though he was born in Colombia,Moya now lives in Mexico. He was gifted his first camera at the age of 14 by his father,but did not put it to real use until he was forced to earn a living off his photos,after failing his engineering exams. After that,he says,there was no looking back.

The exhibition has images of Guevara smiling and chatting,or looking pensively in the distance,his trademark Havana cigar clamped between his teeth. “Che had the hands of a surgeon and my eyes followed his every gesture as I tried to capture his different moods with my Mamiya C 33,” recalls Moya.

There are also images of the people on the streets during the Revolution,of crowds waving larger than life posters during the movement and the American militia caught during recreational moments. Sections are devoted to workmen and educationalists holding classes in tents,but the most evocative of them is the lot where musicians are seen celebrating the fledgling nation through concerts. “In 1967,I quit photography to open my own publishing house. It kept me busy and the photographs I had taken got forgotten along the way. After all these years,I am now involved in archiving my work and revisiting it,” says Moya.

“It is a great honour to be hosting this exhibition in India since India and Cuba have a special connection. Castro was a friend of the Gandhis and the revolution for freedom from colonisers has echoes with India’s struggle for Independence,” says Oscar Pujol,director of the Instituto Cervantes de Nueva,which along with the House of America in Cataluña and the Embassy of Cuba in India,are hosting this exhibition.

The show is on till January 28,2011. For details,call 43681901.