Silent Rebellion
"Machismo, Youth, and the Early Sexualization of Women in Cuban Streets."
"The Virtue and Tragedies of Concealment."
The opacity of man, in the context of machismo, can be seen as a virtue—a silent mechanism of power. This opacity represents the refusal to reveal vulnerability or complexity. In the machismo narrative, opacity becomes a shield for maintaining dominance by withholding transparency. It is a strategic silence that preserves an aura of authority, burying emotions and concealing uncertainty. To others, this opacity demands respect through its inaccessibility but also traps the man in a rigid shell.
Yet, there is a tragic aspect to this virtue. It distances the man from others, isolating him behind layers of performed strength and fear. The opaque man becomes both admired and resented, as his true self remains hidden—even to himself. Opacity, then, is a virtue of the image and a flaw of the human behind it, upholding machismo at the cost of emotional honesty and authentic connection.
"Promiscuity becomes a form of rebellion, a celebration of pleasure and liberation."
Youth in these images exists in a tension between body and decay. Their skin glistens in the light, their gazes heavy, mysterious. Water washes over them, as if trying to cleanse something away, yet the layers of the world around them remain—crumbling walls, silent spaces. Promiscuity here is not simple liberation but an act of defiance, a way to assert themselves in a world that doesn’t truly see them.
This series is a search between visibility and concealment, between what is shown and what remains unsaid. It’s about the act of revealing, and yet never being fully seen—a quiet rebellion in a space that shapes them but never truly knows them.
The women reveal themselves, yet what lies behind their eyes stays hidden—a mix of longing, fear, and untold stories that hint at their inner struggles. Their presence is powerful, but there’s an underlying fragility against the backdrop of social constraint. The decay around them is not just physical, but symbolic—a world that tries to define them, yet fails to grasp their complexity.
