The Void We Leave

The void we leave is an ongoing visual project, about the tenants of an aging community, living in the town of Cienfuegos, Cuba. As they depart from this world, all they leave is the void between the walls. Those walls witnessed so much joy and sadness. Now, they stand in their solitude.

In 2014, a chance encounter led me to meet the members of an aging community, living in a crumbling apartment complex in the town of Cienfuegos, Cuba. Although approximately sixty years of age separated between us, we bonded almost immediately. I returned to visit them few times per year since.

On my subsequent visits, I returned to find apartments turning empty. The tenant left the world, leaving a few personal objects behind and the void between the walls. Those walls witnessed so much: relationships and birthdays, joy and sadness. Now, they stand in their solitude. Soon, the government will lodge a new tenant in the apartment and walls will be painted again, until they too will become another layer of paint on the wall.

Most of the people in this project are no longer alive. Today, I understand the urge I had to take their portrait in the first place. I felt that the camera, with its remarkable ability to freeze time, will help me remember them until one day, I too will become just a void between walls