Witness to an image.

• Author: Fernandez, Mario
• Position: Photographs by Luis Castaneda - Illustration

To Luis Castaneda, photography "is an interplay of ideas, a kaleidoscope of interpretations.... Sometimes I compare it to a large four-dimensional film theater," he says, "where the viewer can move his seat at will to find the best vantage point for absorbing the full effect of the scene he wants to visualize, according to whatever intimate perspective he cares to adopt."

Known for his striking images taken over the course of a thirty-year career, Castaneda was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1943. Self-taught in photography, he has been intrigued by cultural expression from a very early age. His first appearance as a press photographer was a three-year stint with Cuba magazine from 1965 to 1968. Following a brief assignment as theater and dance photographer with the Cuban National Ballet, he worked as a freelance photographer for top Cuban publications and for the National Cultural Council. Taking a keen interest in the arts in Cuba, he worked closely with the National Ballet, publishing a series of portraits of its director and prima ballerina, Alicia Alonso. Primarily a performing arts photographer, Castaneda also documented the Studio Theater and was a member of the Havana Musical Theater.

In 1979 Castaneda left Cuba for Spain, where he set up his own photographic studio, discovering instead that he preferred location work. He began to work as a freelancer for the Spanish Tourism Ministry, which provided him with an opportunity to travel throughout Spain. That first roving assignment gave Castaneda his start as...