Juan Carlos Alom was born in December 1964 in Havana, Cuba.[1] He has been active since the beginning of the 1990’s. Alom worked with a distinctive visual language in his photos, which empathized symbolism, improvisation, and an overall connection to Cuba’s culture and landscapes.
In 2023, Alom was the Mellon Artist in Residence at Hemisphere Institute, from the Hemispheric Institute of Performance & Politics New York University.[2]
Education
In 1989, Juan Carlos Alom received a formal education at two institutions:[3] The Studio of Restoration of Photographic Images at the Cuban Photographic Library, and the Studio of Manipulated Photography at the Cuban Photographic Library. One year later in 1990, he also attended the Semiotic Studio of Urban Environment at the International Institute of Journalism. These schools were located in Havana, where he studied restoring film negatives and photographic images. He studied under a photographer named Gerardo Suter, which is where he learned the importance of symbolism in photos, which would later become one of the most defining aspects of his work.
Nacimiento de una Tierra (Birth of a Land)
Alom’s work mainly centered around Afro-Cuban religious practices. One of his series, titled Nacimiento de una Tierra(Birth of a Land) from 2010, details a ritual held by an all male religious secret society known as the Abakuá. In an interview with Iberia Pérez González,[4] Alom describes that the ritual was held in memory of two members of the brotherhood that had passed, and he was asked to document the ritual in order to share it with members located in the United States. In the series, Alom captures the intricate connection between music, dance, and spiritual symbolism illustrated in the ritual. Something important worth noting is Alom’s authenticity, with him respecting the secrecy of the Abakuá’s practices, embracing the limitations of documenting these secret practices.
El libro oscuro (The Dark Book) and The Special Period
Another important series Alom worked on is El libro oscuro (The Dark Book) which was shot from 1991 to 1995. For Cuba, the 1990’s was known as “The Special Period.” Up to this point, Cuba’s economy had been relying on the Soviet Union, and when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba’s economy was severely effected. Resources like film and other photographic materials were very scarce, so Alom was forced to ration the resources he had. He learned how to use expired film and X-Ray chemicals to continue his work.[5] Due to the properties of old film, his pictures appeared much darker and dreamlike. The main focus of “The Dark Book” centered around Afro-Cuban Myths.
Artistic style
Most of Alom’s photos are made using black-and-white film rather than color film. In an interview,[6] Alom reveals why: It was the type of film he used when he started his photography journey, and he admired its simplicity. Black and white film was easy to come by and it was faster to develop than color film. Alom preferred to spend as little time as possible on developing, giving him more time to focus on his goal.
Solo exhibitions
Alom's work has been exhibited in Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, Europe, and South Africa.[7]
2013 – 1989-2012 Fotografías de Juan Carlos Alom, BuzzArt, Miami[8]
2009 – Esperamos en el Monte Claro, Galería Villa Manuela, Havana, Cuba
1995 – "Arenas Movedizas" together with Luis Gómez this was part of a very large visual event "Una de Cada Clase" organized by Ludwig Foundation in Cuba
José Veigas-Zamora, Cristina Vives Gutierrez, Adolfo V. Nodal, Valia Garzon, Dannys Montes de Oca. Memoria: Cuban Art of the 20th Century; (California/International Arts Foundation 2001); ISBN978-0-917571-11-4
José Veigas. Memoria: Artes Visuales Cubanas Del Siglo Xx; (California Intl Arts 2004); ISBN978-0-917571-12-1
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