The day I met Lino
On 25 September 2018 at 1pm we went to Lino Betacourt Molina's flat in Vedado, a neighbourhood I like very much in Havana. I was happy to know that we would have the sea in front of us and that we could even watch it from the interviewee's balcony. The sea and I have a special bond.
The work in question that Bohemia magazine sent me to do was about a person who had a great career and was also a journalist like us, in other words, a colleague. And I only went as a photographer. I was part of a team that consisted of a journalist from the culture department and myself.
Lino was very welcoming. A man who had already lived a lot, as you can see in these photos. He could stand on his own. And he retained his joviality. But what I did not imagine at the time was that in December of that same year, he would leave this earthly plane.
As I told you, he was a journalist, radio writer, broadcaster, musicographer. Artist of Merit of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT). In his career he also worked as a producer and editor of record notes for the Abdala Studios. He won the National Radio Award in 2007. He was a lecturer on Cuban music in American and European countries and published several books, in short, a very busy life and I suppose full of unforgettable moments.
While the journalist Tania Chappi was interviewing him, I was looking for some angles with my camera and snooping through his books.
There we can see his investigative contributions to the history of the trova and besides telling us about important events, he also referred to great exponents of this genre such as Compay Segundo.
I took those picture to have the titles of his books. I was documenting things... books that spoke of the greatness of others, about troubadours and trova itself, as you can see.
His work, on the greatness of others, is at the same time the testimony of his own greatness. Even if, like many of the troubadours he has rescued in his pages, he did not claim it. OnCubaNews
So perhaps these photographs taken by me are part of a small ‘documented’ collection of his last moments in life. Sad...
I would like to participate with these photographs in the #Monomad Challenge and in the Portrait 117 Photofeed competition, but I don't know if I'm in time.
Original content by @nanixxx. All rights reserved ©, 2025.
This is a great story, especially since they went to document a live media source.
You made me remember when I met Oscar Niemayer, the architect designer of the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, only in my case I didn't know who he was and when I did a little research prior to the interview, my excitement was enormous.
Too bad that at that time I didn't even have a camera and smartphones didn't exist.
Oh, what a story. But you have it in your memory and you can try to remember details and write it down as if you were reconstructing the photo. Don't you think so?
A full and recognized life. Sometimes life is fair in this life, and if it's not it doesn't matter. Keep enjoying the sea and your passions, big hugs @nanixxx.
But you just told us in your post that life is full of little miracles!
I don't know what will be fair or not... but I just want to be present at every little miracle. I just saw the sun rise here on my terrace.
En español, Lino tuvo la suerte de ser reconocido en esta vida, pudo ser que no. Y no importa ... La vida es un pequeño milagro 😃 y tú estuviste allí.
What a character... how interesting that you were able to go and take those pictures, and that they are part of the last ones. This is a tribute to a person who maintained an attitude and as you mention his joviality. Thank you for these great photos and this memory!
I'm sorry I didn't answer yesterday. I had a bad headache all day....
Lino is well remembered here and left some books written and much consulted.
I have a lot of reading to do and little time. Now I am going to do some gardening. At least two hours in the backyard.
Thanks to you 😊 for always visiting my blog.
Don't worry, we answer when we can, have a good time in the garden!
What a great opportunity you had to photograph that personality, that's the most beautiful part of your profession, you can get to know closely people who have made an interesting life and be part of important events. The photos are spectacular, I love the photo where he is typing, we can see that he was manipulating it with all his fingers, what an honor to capture those moments, maybe they were his last photos. Beautiful post my dear @nanixxx, un abrazo y lindo domingo 🤗
Thank you friend. A pleasure to share some of my work. I have many photos in my archive. I was looking to see if any of them were published, and I didn't find anything on Internet. Life stuff.
Linda semana para ti.
Great! Wonderful 😊 Have a nice week my dear @nanixxx, hugs 🤗🤗🤗
Thank you 😊
Beautiful black & white photography. Nice shot :)
Thanks to you for stopping by and leaving your feedback. I am pleased that you find value in these photos.
You're welcome :)
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¡Gracias buzzzzz!
¡Eso es genial @nanixxx! ¡Estamos impresionados con tu progreso en Hive! ¡Sigue adelante y logra este nuevo objetivo!
I am very grateful for the support @brumest and Qurator Team.
Great Photography, Appreciate for your efforts.
Thank you, it was work that I enjoyed doing and had been wanting to share it here on Hive for some time.
That Great 👍👍👍👍👍
In our country, a legend like him would be called a cultural figure, and he will always be remembered for his services, hard work and struggle.
Of course it is. I think it's the same here, because Lino is very well remembered.
Thank you.
Beautiful story @nanixxx. Your images remained as a nice memory of that excellent journalist and broadcaster. Greetings and have a nice day ☺️
It's one of the nicest things about Hive. We can keep all our history here, whatever it's worth keeping, of course, and the world can see it too.
Thank you! Nice week to you!
Congratulations. Today's #monomad second place is yours.
Thank You very much for participating and for being part of the Black And White Community!
😀 Thank you!
What a life he must have led. Your photographs give us a wonderful insight into his career and importance to the world.
Superb captures Nani!
I am very happy to be able to share them here. It is good to pay tribute to a man who worked hard to make our music and its most representative exponents visible. Many times I kept looking at these photos and remembering that moment until I decided to publish them and now I feel that I did something good.
I really appreciate your feedback and thank you very much for the reblog. 👌🏻✨
I am glad you did publish them, I was doing a little digging into him after your post. What a fascinating man and I love what he did for your music.
☺️ Thank you!