Hands That Feed… for the #monomad challenge

Cuba, 2019 – Canon 60D | 18-55mm

I went out with my camera, like so many times before, with no clear direction. Lens ready, mind a bit worn out. At that point, I was starting to feel tired of urban themes. The streets, the passersby, the same old faces… something inside me was asking for change, for a new subject that could reignite the spark.

Then I saw it.
Right in the heart of Havana, just steps from the Plaza de la Revolución, a piece of land was breathing life. Among buildings, asphalt, and noise, a few men were working the soil as if time had stood still. They were harvesting, sweating, bending, repeating. In that brutal contrast between city and countryside, I found what I didn’t even know I was looking for: urban agriculture.

I stopped. I watched. I shot.

That day, this series was born. I didn’t just capture bodies at work, but dignity rooted in tough soil. Weathered hands that feed. Gazes that don’t ask for permission. Rhythms that ignore the clock.

Black and white felt inevitable. Not out of nostalgia, but out of respect. Because this light, these shadows, these textures need no embellishment. Because the essential is not always colorful, but it is always real.

These photos don’t pretend to tell the whole story, but they invite you to look. To pause for a moment in front of the silent effort of those who cultivate where no one expects anything to grow.