Alberto Pagés, box photographer of Havana. (Photos: Mildred O´Bourke Rodríguez)

The tourists stare – without believing – at that airtight apparatus with adhesive tape. The guy invites them – in a broken English –to have a picture taken, as a remembrance of their stay in Havana. It is hard for them to believe.

We natives would not do that either, if we did not know what it is all about.

I want to call the attention about this fact: the so called box photographers or “minuteros” have been inseparable parts of the human and cultural landscape of this city. But they die out, they are discouraged, they disappear… It is so sad.

In the graphic history of the Cuban capital, people coming from other provinces of our country, when they visited this territory, they used to stand for a photo by any of those artists in front of the Capitol, to go on file for that.

In spite of that, the box photographers are nowadays a weird image, with nobody paying attention to that added value of what our identity, memory, diversity and life in general, are. The city should not permit that such a trade be lost, something that contributes also to conform its title of Marvel City.

Alberto Pagés, living in Marianao municipality, has been on this trade for thirty years. He feels in love with such a job that does not render too much for him from the point of view of money but he feels a great satisfaction.

He works near Central Park, with a license from the Office of the Historian of the City. He splits his job with two other partners: “The little you have, should be shared.” In his opinion, at least in Havana, there should not be more than five of these street artists.”

Might it be so difficult to help these stubbornly determined people, the nearest to the era of Lumiéres, than to that of the digital one?  Viable solutions should be found, so that they can not only go on with this beautiful job, but also motivate others to carry on.

With joined efforts, it may be done. I invite those who disbelieve it to come down sometime to this spot and look at the faces of those tourists who have taken the risk of believing “that thing” may take their picture. The face of surprise and admiration brings a message that we should not be unaware of.

They may not be the best photos taken in the whole world, but the box photographer has an unequalled seal of Cuban roots. They are an extension of the city landscape. Let’s preserve this trade.

His work area is in Central Park.