Manuel Ruiz-Barrera, a Cuban American, was 23 when he first fled to Cuba. A history major at Florida International University, he was driven by a desire to capture the reality of a place that seemed like the last place you’d expect to find a totalitarian regime.

“Surreal Cuba: A Photographic Journey” captures images from a post-Cold War period when the country was in the midst of a severe economic crisis. After the Soviet Union withdrew its financial support, Cuba, under Fidel Castro’s government, faced a crippling shortage of food and energy. 

The period was marked by blackouts, famine, and widespread fear. Those years are known as the Special Period. 

Before his first trip to Cuba in 1993, Barrera worked at the Miami Herald. Knowing the paper would never send him on an assignment because of his age, he decided to go on his own. He funded the trip – and the next 3 to come – by doing a UPS-style job from the U.S. to Cuba. 

“The items in my luggage were never mine,” Barrera said.

The book is composed of several moments, captured by Barrera, of a vulnerable and struggling Cuba. The faces of Cubans, worn with exhaustion, show the emotional toll of daily hardships: fear, frustration and uncertainty. 

Their eyes reflect a deep longing as they endure blackouts, hunger, and scarcity, holding on to whatever hope they can find. The struggle to survive in such conditions is felt in every picture.

“My pants were baggy because I had many films I was just carrying around,” Barrera said.

For Barrera, this book tells a story of forgiveness and redemption. During those times, neighbors turned against neighbors, never knowing who was compromised and who wasn’t. 

People feared for their families, wondering what might happen to their children or spouses if they spoke out or were seen as a threat. Even within families there was tension. Relatives urged each other to stay quiet, saying, “‘You have to shut up, or you’re going to get me in trouble.’”

On his first trips, Barrera was welcomed by the citizens of Cuba. Each time he returned, he learned more about the dystopia Cuba had become. 

However, things began to change over time. 

“I could feel the eyes of the people on me during my last trip, and I was scared I wouldn’t be leaving Cuba,” Barrera  said. The realities of Cuban life started to seep into his own experience: he found himself being gossiped about and getting detained at a Cuban police station.

One photograph from that time captured a moment when his car was broken into. He recalls how professional the thieves were, quickly stealing his video camera. “They did it within seconds,” Barrera  said.

Barrera chose the photograph “The Yearning” when asked to select an image that captured what it felt like to be a citizen in Cuba during that time. He narrates the moment where, “this man was standing in front of crashing, 20-30 foot waves, frozen in his desire to get out of there.” 

He didn’t have his camera with him at the moment, so Barrera had to go get it; and the man remained in the same spot. Staring out toward the sea, looking beyond the island. 

Barrera described that moment in Cuba as “darker than dark,” reflecting the intense hopelessness and desperation to leave that permeated the air.

But “Surreal Cuba” is more than just a photography book. Beneath each picture, a QR code links to a story where Barrera shares the personal experiences behind the image, drawing viewers into the deep emotions of the moment captured. 

The author shared that some of the people in his photographs later died by suicide, suffering from depression brought on by repression.

“Sometimes it is painful for me to look at this, because this causes a lot of pain for me. There is a lot of pain that I still see with these photographs,” Barrera said.

Even in a time of sorrow and uncertainty, Barrera still found moments of joy. He recalls the story of his great-uncle, also named Manuel, a countryside rebel who gave him the most memorable Christmas dinner of his life. 

In Cuba, killing a cow can result in 10 to 15 years in prison. But that night, his great-uncle defied the rules, creating a moment of warmth and defiance that Barrera would never forget. 

He served what Barrera described as a giant, delicious slab of steak – but without utensils.

 “This guy doesn’t even use utensils,” Barrera  said. “I just remember grabbing the steak with our hands and eating it.”

The situation in Cuba still isn’t getting any better. Michael Vazquez, 57, a member of the Cuban Heritage Collection Amigos Board at The University of Miami, shared his disappointment at the book launch. 

The son of Cuban parents, he visited the country in 2016 and was shocked by what he saw. “It was almost like going to Disneyland and finding out everything was falling apart,” Vazquez said. 

Vazquez advocates for human rights organizations to step in but acknowledges the challenges, given the government’s control. “They control the police, the army and the people have absolutely nothing,” Vazquez said.

Vazquez often hears people say that Latinos are always happy. When someone claims that about Cubans, Vazquez doesn’t sugarcoat his response.

“That’s if you go to the zoo and you see the monkeys in a cage. They look happy,” Vazquez said. 

“Surreal Cuba: A Photographic Journey” offers a powerful glimpse into a world shaped by hardship, hope, and resilience. Discover the untold stories behind each image and feel the emotions that words alone can’t capture.