Published by, Radius, 2009, 144 pages, Softbound with printed slipcase, 10 × 11.25 inches.

New

This multi-layered portrait of “the violet isle”—a little-known name for Cuba inspired by the rich color of the soil there—presents an engaging, at times unsettling document of a vibrant and vulnerable land.

The book combines two separate photographic visions: ALEX WEBB’s exploration of street life, with his attuned and complex attention to detail, and REBECCA NORRIS WEBB’s fascination with the unique, quixotic collections of animals she discovered there, from tiny zoos and pigeon societies to hand-painted natural history displays and quirky personal menageries.

The result is an insightful and intriguing blend of two different aesthetics inspired by Cuba’s existence over the last fifty years in an economic, political, cultural and ecological bubble virtually untouched by the rest of the world, and unlikely to remain that way for much longer.