In Cuba, photography has passed through nearly the same stages that in the rest of the world. It has been art, document, record, handicraft, symbol, medium, index, remnant, truth and also lie, creation and sometimes fantasy. But above all, it has been a tool in the hands of journalists, portraitists, scientists, criminologists, artists and also photographers.

But what is special about Cuban photography? Focusing both on history and facts, modes of production and contexts, the lecture will address the broad spectrum of issues from the first daguerrotype in 1840 to the most reproduced image in the history of photography.