Photographic Materials Series, 1963-1964 and undated

Extent:

2 boxes

Scope and content:

Consists of contact sheets, prints, and negatives of photographs taken by Stryker while in Cuba from December 1963 to June 1964. Captions were created by the photographer. All photographic films were processed by Alberto Korda, Cuba's official photographer during the revolution. Series includes numerous photographs of Fidel Castro acting in his official role, speaking at rallies and parades, visiting farms, and awaiting the return of Cuban fishing boats detained by the U.S. government. In addition, Stryker documents Fidel Castro relaxing at home with friends, exercising, and writing. Other prominent revolutionaries and government individuals photographed include: Ernesto "Ché" Guevara, Juan Almeida, Luis Crespo, Armando Acosta, Armando Hart Dávalos, Efigenio Ameijeiras Delgado, Faustino Pérez, Manuel Fajardo Sotomayor, César Escalante, Jesus Montane, Antonio Núñez Jímenez, Guillermo García Frías, Celia Sánchez, Ramiro Valdes Menendez, and René Vallejo.

Other photographs chronicle life in Havana, including Carnaval, as well as the Cuban countryside, particularly the Sierra Madre and Isla de Turiguanó, Bayamo, Camagüey, and Guamá. Two rolls of film document the damage to cane fields and villages in rural Cuba in the aftermath of Hurricane Flora in late 1963. Many of the contact sheets are annotated. Negatives, contact sheets, and prints are organized sequentially by film roll; uncategorized prints and prints without negatives appear at the end of the series. All of Stryker's negatives have been digitized and these images are available in their digital form. There are a few prints and contact sheets not represented digitally.

Contents

Using These Materials