The women of SENSUAL HAVANA art-nude coffee-table book
"The importance of this kind of work is the trust and respect between models and photographer. In Sensual Havana there is never any intention of vulgarity. It is gracious and deferential."
ROBERTO SALAS, Cuba's pre-eminent photographer, author & photographer of Epigramas: Desnudos artísticas and Tabaco: El erotismo de un aroma
Ranging in age from 18 to 51 at the time of shooting (2022-2024), the more than 50 models represented in this book span the gamut from professional models to actresses, classical musicians, ballerinas of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, a hair-stylist, a poet, sports figures, a tour guide, figurantes (cabaret showgirls), and even medical doctors who model part-time. The sheer eclecticism represents a microcosm of Cuban society. Together they reflect Cuba’s kaleidoscopic ethnic spectrum.
Although the majority are models who the photographer invited to participate, many women featured here, upon learning about the ‘Sensual Havana’ project, approached the author/photographer requesting to be included: The two oldest models—Leydiana Valdes López (51) and Yanelis Ávila Frances (42)– each stated that it had been a lifelong dream to pose nude.
Fortunately for my project, Cubans are sensualists of the first degree. Attempts to analyze Cuba through the North American value system are guaranteed to be wide of the mark. The Cuban value context and philosophical approach to life and sensuality differ markedly from puritanical North America, with its unwholesome and toxic hang-ups about naked bodies. First, there’s the sheer physicality of Cuba. Above all, Cubans are comfortable with their bodies, as befits a people that strips down to deal with the tropical climate. They touch a lot and engage each other in a very intimate way: “loud and boisterous, with a friendliness that can verge on the licentious,” writes Megan Daigles in From Cuba with Love. As journalist Jacobo Timerman wrote, “Eros is amply gratified in Cuba and needs no stimulation.”
A joyous eroticism and sexuality pervade Cuban men and women alike—the free expression of a high-spirited people confined in a politically authoritarian world. The women in these pages proudly wear their own skins (if little else); they accept and respect themselves as sensuous beings and are absolutely secure in celebrating and flaunting their sensuality.
Sensual Havana is more than just a book of nudes--it's a powerful tribute to the strength and spirit of Cuban women! Baker's gorgeous photos capture their pride and confidence, offering a fresh, unique view of both the women and the beauty of Havana."
CATHERINE KARNOW, National Geographic photographer and photo instructor.
"Sensual Havana is an elegant, respectful tour of the female body and Cuban capital--a city alive, despite palpable deterioration, with slender and attractive bodies. Baker's artistic perspective highlights black and mestizo women, an important and commendable nuance that reflects the national ethnos and confirms his close relationship with Cuban culture."
RAFAEL ACOSTA DE ARRIBA, professor at Havana's Instituto Superior de Arte and author of La seducción de la mirada: Fotografía del cuerpo en Cuba (1840-2013)
This distinctly erotic identity is epitomized in Cuban culture by the mixed-race ideal of exoticized Caribbean beauty—the mulata—best represented by Ochún, the dark-skinned goddess of pleasure and love, a hedonist who loves to dance and make love, in the country’s preeminent Santería religion. Officially, 37 percent of Cuba’s population is ”white” (mainly of Spanish origin); about 11 percent is black; and 52 percent of mixed white-black—mulato—ethnicity. Hence, a preponderance of the models featured in Sensual Havana are mulata or black.
The boundaries were set before shooting, with total respect paid to honoring the wishes of those models who had stated no desire to pose nude. (It's important to note that this book is NOT a book of nudes per se; many models are represented clothed.) On several occasions, however, once such a model felt comfortable in front of my camera, she’d become aware of the megaton power of her sensuality and volunteer, often eagerly, to be more revealing. Fortunately, many models proved comfortable in their skin and didn’t shy from taking risks, on occasion gleefully posing fully nude in public venues.
All models willingly signed model releases acknowledging the adult nature of the photography and granting the photographer permission to use the images without restriction.
What the models say
Thanks to you for being such a professional dear Chris. I'm so flattered to work with you again my dear friend. Loved this session!
- LEA VALL
Muchas gracias. Para mi es un placer trabajar con usted. Usted es profesional. Por eso, puedes contar conmigo siempre. [Many thanks. It's a pleasure working with you. You're a professional. For that reason, you can always count on me.]
- GLENDA OVIEDO
Thank you, Chris. It was a very beautiful experience!
- INGRID ZAMORA
Adoré el trabajo en conjunto [I adored working with you]
- AMARAY GARCÍA
Bella trabajo... Estaré encantada de volver a trabajar con usted. [Beautiful work. I’d love to work with you again.]
- CLAUDIA PAULA
Que bellasssss!!! Son perfectas. Mil gracias por mi corazón. [How perfect! They're perfect. Thank you deeply from my heart.]
- LAURA KAMILA ROJAS
The first time I saw Christopher Baker’s nudes, one of José Martí’s 'Simple Verses' came to me: "As if by wings set free, I’ve seen women’s shoulders rise: And beauty emerge from debris In a flight of butterflies." Poor Havana, so full of lust, so devoid of care, used up but never emptied out, surviving on the inexhaustible energy and infinite beauty of its incredible women. Baker has a gift for projecting the steely confidence of these women and the ecstasy of their own being, and the result is witchcraft. Beauty erupts from the city’s ruins with such heat the pages practically smolder and the colors boil over. There is art in every frame, made all the more stunning for the backdrop of decline and decay that is Cuba’s capital. Bravo!”
ANTHONY DePALMA, author of The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times and The Man Who Invented Fidel.