Images of Cuba give Rochester photog introspective look into family's homeland

Robert Ortiz during an opening reception for his exhibit at The Franklin Gallery at RiverStones Custom Framing in downtown Rochester on Thursday. (Rochester Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - For Rochester photographer Robert Ortiz, there are two Cubas.

There's the cities like Havana, with its classic Spanish architecture and all the "grandness of the connection between Spain and Cuba," he said.
And then there's the country with its common people, where even in a hardscrabble existence, they make the best of everything, always keeping a smile on their face even in the face of adversity.

Ortiz' parents met in New York after emigrating from Cuba in 1958 to make a better life in the United States.

He settled in Rochester more than 20 years ago after falling in love with New Hampshire after vacationing here.

But in a search to reconnect with his heritage, in 2016 he made the first of three trips to Cuba to discover for himself the country where his parents were born.

During a Thursday reception at the Franklin Gallery at RiverStones Custom Framing where he currently has an exhibit, Ortiz said that while the Cubans who live in the countryside provide a contrast to its capital of Havana, there's two things that unite all Cubans, their love of music and their perseverance.

"They don't realize how hard they have it; they have it hard, but they overcome that," he said. "It doesn't take much to find a little pail, then flip the pail over and make music.

"To have fun, fun is number one," he said. "They love to eat and they love their music."

In the exhibit, titled "Cuba - a Country Caught in a Time Warp" - Ortiz said he tries to capture the dichotomy of city and country life in his portrait and landscape photographs, some dazzling with the colors and scenescapes only seen in Havana, others in stark black and white of its country folk.

Oritz' exhibit will run through June. The Franklin Gallery at RiverStones Custom Framing is located at 33 North Main St. The exhibit can be seen free of charge during regular business hours Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.