Havana: The Revolutionary Moment

The Revolutionary Moment presents a unique collection of rarely seen photographs by veteran Magnum photographer Burt Glinn, recording Castro s historic entry into Havana in January 1959. In his memoir, Glinn describes the combination of chutzpah and journalistic prescience that led him to leave a New York party and hop on a plane to Havana on New Year s Eve. This snap decision made Glinn one of three western photographers (the other two are no longer alive) to accompany Castro at that time, and the images have been virtually unseen since then. The photographs - of Fidel thronged by his fellow Cubans along the road to Havana, of troops embracing, and of fierce men and women taking up arms in the streets - are full of the revolutionary fervor and idealistic anticipation that characterized that moment in Cuban history. The entire book, including essays by Cuban Minister of Plastic Arts Rafael Acosta de Arriba and editor Nan Richardson, as well as Burt Glinn s The Day Havana Fell , is bilingual in Spanish and English. It is an astonishing experience to look at Burt Glinn's on-the-spot photographs of Fidel Castro's 1959 triumphal march into Havana. It is a historic moment captured by a courageous master craftsman. Studs Turkel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Burt Glinn first became known for his spectacular colour work of the South Seas, Japan, Russia, Mexico and California. Collaborating with author Laurens van der Post, he produced two books: A Portrait of All the Russias and A Portrait of Japan. Glinn was one of the original contributing editors of New York Magazine. He has authored editorial stories for magazines such as Esquire, GEO, Travel and Leisure, and Fortune, and published reportage in magazines such as LIFE and Paris-Match, covering the Sinai War, the U.S. Marine invasion of Lebanon, Castro s takeover in Cuba, as well as many social issues.