Cuba’s Top Nature Photography Contest Comes to a Close

This is the third year in a row that Topes de Collantes hosts the “Naturaleza Digital" photography event. This time round the contest counted on the presence of 71 participants and 34 contestants, in the modes of Landscape, Flora and Fauna, Macro and Men and Nature, as well as the special award given to the Invading Species mode.

The attendees arrived in the Square of Memories on Monday September 15. They were welcomed by Silvio González Acosta, Director General of the complex, and paid tribute to Cuban scientist Jesús Cañizares Zayas, accompanied by Ana Edilia Rivera, relator of the event. A wreath was laid by CITMA specialist Ernesto Pulido. The participants were saluted by the Marketing vice president of GAVIOTA SA, Frank País Oltuski. They also witnessed the signing of the award-wining pictures in 2013, and a coffee making and tasting ritual.

There was a moving moment at the Escambray Kurhotel, with words delivered by Carlos Alberto Bastón and dedicated to the life and work of the recently-passed photographer Eduardo Aguiar Martín, who was a jury member and lecturer of our contest. His widow received the recognition and some of the photographer’s Nature pictures were exhibited. Afterwards, the head of the jury, Julio Larramendi, and CITMA specialist, Ernesto Pulido, gave two conferences on photographic techniques and exotic invading species, respectively.

The day came to an end with a Technical Congress, the draw of pseudonyms and field sessions, as well as a technical and operational explanation of the open forest tours, given by Osmil Santiago and Baudilio Naranjo, specialists of the protected area, and Rafael Rodríguez, Marketing Manager of the Complex. Singer Gustavo Felipe Remedios provided the entertainment for the evening.

Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 were the days chosen to go camping at such parks as Guanayara, Codina, El Nicho, El Cubano and Mi Retiro. Several 3D naturalist presentations were screened by Esteban Grau on the 17th, and a performance by Escambray’s Mountain Artistic Group put an end to the evening.

On the dawn of Thursday 18, the excited competitors were on their way to the open forest areas Finca La Cuba, Casa Azul and its magnolias, Mi Retiro and its Mogote, Hanabanilla and its banks, Nengoa and its caves, and Javira, in order to fulfill their image banks. The contest came to a close late that night and, while most of the participants were enjoying the activities with the entertainers of Playa Cayo Santa María Hotel, the jury analyzed 497 images to handpick the best ones.

On Friday 19, the Museum of Cuban Contemporary Art host the opening of the photographic show entitled "Campesinos", by its authors Chip Cooper and Julio Larramendi, the result of their trips throughout our country. Subsequently, accompanied by the guides of the complex, the attendees visited the Colonial Trinidad Colonial and, after the preliminary explanation delivered by Víctor Echenagusía Peña, a specialist with the Historian’s Office, they walked its streets, mansions and museums, tasted the mambi canchánchara, and met artisan master Azariel Santander, who has won several awards, such as the first prize in the National Contest on Utilitarian Craftwork 2003 FIART.

A meeting with the Organizing Committee of the upcoming edition of "Naturaleza Digital" was held in the afternoon, which is scheduled to take place on September 7 – 12, 2015. The impressive "Portraits" conference was given by jury member Chip Cooper, before the closing ceremony.

The jury named the winners during the awards ceremony, surrounded by laughs, surprises, shouts and even sadness, but just like every year new friends were made and new meetings were arranged.

Those who love Nature praise their work and already wait for upcoming editions, in order to watch sceneries they already know and walk into new ones, strongly believing that they will remain sustainably gorgeous, surprising and friendly.