Next expo up: Book Dummy presentation in Brussels, La Vallée

The posing, the dresses and glamorous outfits, the big prints of 15 year old girls posing in the studio or at the Malecón (the boulevard of Havana) on the walls of houses and the photobooks and magazines that girls have of their Quinceñera. I got fascinated by them, I wanted to know more.

The project started when I visited Havana in 2022 and studied for two months at the Art Academy in Havana. As a photographer/ anthropologist I got interested in this Coming of Age tradition in which photography plays a big role. Also, the body and gender play a role in the posing and the tradition that is mainly there for women. Some men start doing it, but this is more of an exception.

Soñar means ‘dreaming’. As I became friends with the photographer in Cuba that does the official shoot for the Quinceañera she told me more and more about the meaning of the tradition and how this day for some girls literally is their one day of fame, the day they have been dreaming about and the family has prepared them for and the day they will never forget.