Playing ball in Cuba with Ira Block: Nat Geo photographer’s process & Cuba’s love for baseball

 

 

Sony Artisan and longtime National Geographic photographer Ira Block recently sat down with Tony and Chelsea Northrup to discuss his project of documenting baseball in Cuba.

The Northrups asked Block about his process and how he chose to capture the Cuban culture. Baseball is a big part of Cuban culture and has a long history in the island nation. There is a lot of vibrant and interesting history in Cuba and Block wanted to focus his photography on a particularly positive aspect of the culture, sport.

"It's all about building a relationship when you're shooting documentary photography, having people trust you," Block says. He continued that an advantage of digital photography is that you can show people what you are trying to accomplish and they'll look at the photo and they get it and are more receptive to letting you capture photos of them or within their space. Documentary photography requires people skills in addition to the photography skills.

To see more of Ira Block's photography, you can visit his website. You can preorder his new book, "Cuba Loves Baseball: A Photographic Journey" through Amazon.

(Via Tony & Chelsea Northrup)