When you arrive in Cuba, one of the first things you notice upon exiting the terminal at Havana International Airport are the antique American cars parked outside.

It’s like you have gone back in time. For me the cars bring back childhood memories of a more innocent era.

It’s not that the Cubans wanted to keep a bunch of old American cars running forever. They had no choice. The US Embargo restricted new American cars from arriving and helped to impoverish the island, making many material purchases out of reach. Like the Johnny Cash song “One Piece at a Time”, they use their ingenuity, making parts and in some cases mixing and matching parts from different years and models in order to keep them running. Now considered a national treasure, some are meticulously restored, usually seen as cabs plying tourist hotels. Others, usually in non-tourist working areas have a patina made from paint layers and hammered metal. They often have an artistic beauty of their own.

These photographs have been made since 2004, during six visits to Cuba. While walking the streets photographing people and architecture, I kept an eye out for the Cuban American cars that ply the streets of Havana, Trinidad, Camaguey, Cienfuegos, and Santiago. Photographed as a typology of environmental car portraits from a similar point of view, they also give a feel for the streets of Cuba.

About Jeffrey Milstein

Jeffrey Milstein is a photographer, architect, and pilot. His photographs have been exhibited and collected throughout the world, and have been featured in publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, Esquire, Fortune, Harpers, Vanity Fair, New York, GEO, GQ, Paris Match, Liberation, and Die Zeit. He has won numerous awards, including Graphis Gold Awards, and has been featured on CNN and the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley. His work is in the collections of museums including The Scottish National Galleries, LACMA, George Eastman House, Musée de l’Elysée, Portland Art Museum, Akron Art Museum, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where he had a year-long solo show of his aircraft. His books include: Aircraft the Jet as Art, Abrams, Paris From the Air, Rizzoli, London From the Air, Rizzoli, LA NY, Thames and Hudson, and Cuba, Monacelli. He is represented by major galleries in the US and overseas. His studio is in Kingston, New York. [Official Website]