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For the 3rd time in 5 years, I went to Cuba. This time our itinerary included Havana for two days, then Trinidad and we drove to Santiago to meet with our Cuban Salsa group: the All Stars. I knew that Cubans love music, or most exactly music is life for the Cubans. This trip did reinforce the notion to a new level. We witnessed a music video being filmed on the Malecon, people dancing in the streets and we could hear music all the time on the streets, coming from cars, apartments, phones. Havana is changing fast, we were able to get cash from an ATM using an European credit card (an impossible thing before), a new 5 stars hotel has opened (after 5 years of construction), luxury brands like MontBlanc, Leica, Nikon are opening shops in Havana. The old Havana was...

2017 has been a year of repeat amazing experiences and checking a couple items off from my bucket list. First, I finally managed to get to Yosemite during a large snowstorm (it should be on anyone’s bucket list). Then I went glamping in an Airstream (bucket list item). Right after I went back to Fairbanks to see more auroras, it was a balmy -15F. In June, we went back camping on Angel Island. Then I went sailing in Svalbard (for the second time). Right after, I did a photoshoot for an amazing young sailing athlete while he was practicing sailing. In October, I went to Venice for the Biennale (another bucket list item). In December, I went back to Cuba, this time in Trinidad and Santiago. Lastly, a couple days ago I went back to photograph San Francisco with...

The Hanna House is located on the Stanford University campus and just reopened after a couple years of being closed for renovation/maintenance. This house is supposed to be the first work from Frank Lloyd Wright in the region. The name of this house is the honeycomb house and is Frank’s first work with non rectangular structures. You can visit the house by signing up here. At the time of my tour, I could only photograph the outside of the house, no photography was allowed inside during the tour. While I completely understand, it was really hard because this house is such a masterpiece of modern design. I can only suggest for all of you to go visit it for yourself, it’s worth your time. I have included here the outside images, that can give you the...

This was the fourth time I went to Angel Island (day trip) and it’s always a treat. It’s pretty incredible that a lot of people living in the Bay Area have never been to Angel Island. Last time, I went camping (see previous post), we did get ideal conditions. This time we went later into the spring, hoping to get better luck with the fog. Overall the weather was ok but not yet as interesting as it could be, knowing the location potential. I will have to try again, until I get the image I want to make. In the meantime, here are some draft images I made while being...

Finally I made it to the Art Biennale in Venice! It has been on my bucket list for a while and I have several of my friends who go every time. Even my wife went 4 years ago without me (I was probably traveling somewhere else). This year, I spent 3 weeks in Nice and I was able to spend a short weekend in Venice towards the end of the Biennale. Like Burning Man, the pictures you see and the stories you read about this event are not complete. The Biennale is something you experience yourself and no one will have the same experience. I found the event overwhelming at time, immense, totally amazing and engaged. While we were there, we had two days of heavy fog that grounded aircrafts and stopped public boats. While we had to walk more, it was so worth it. It’s...

This last post took way more time to be written than anyone had expected. In case you are reaching this blog directly, I highly recommend reading the two previous posts about this trip: part 1: the northernmost inhabited place in the world part 2: our boat. The main reasons for me to travel to Svalbard are to see some polar bears and also capture the unique landscape of the arctic. The weather in the arctic changes quickly from the worst to the best in couple minutes. After returning from my previous trip, I learned that my favorite images from that trip were when it was cloudy, overcast, almost stormy. I don’t know why but the pictures taken in cloudy weather seems to reflect better my feelings about Svalbard, a hard place, a challenging place. This time...