Beyond Words

Rediscover amazement through pictures of Cuba that transcend time.

Rediscover amazement through pictures of Cuba that transcend time.

Invited by Fidel Castro himself to document his rise to power, the father-son team of Osvaldo and Roberto Salas took hundreds of black-and-white photographs, many of of Castro and Che Guevara preparing for battle in the picturesque Sierra Maestra Mountains, their subsequent victory in Havana over the dictator Fulgencio Batista, and the postrevolution days of rebuilding.

The infamous Bay of Pigs invasion is told in startling photographs of destruction, boats and planes swamped, burning on the shores of Cuba. Russian airman Yuri Gagarin (the first man in space) and American novelist Ernest Hemingway are but two world figures found in this album of historic photos. Common, everyday Cubans playing out their roles as partisans and farmers lend universality to the remarkable.

Roberto Salas' brief remembrances with each photo reveal private conversations and insider's footnotes, illuminating the meaning of the pictures.