VOLKER FIGUEREDO VÉLIZ was born Volker Büffel in 1953. He worked for nearly forty years for a large computer manufacturer and, having accepted an offer of early retirement, he headed for Cuba where he met the woman who is now his wife. As a photographer, Figueredo has built up a worldwide reputation with his images on Cuba. He lived for a number of years in Havana, where he found the in- spiration for his own personal photography and led photo workshops for people from all over the world. He uses his Leica to capture everything that is typically Cuban but that is seldom seen by holidaymakers or other visitors to the island. His family connections have enabled him to gain his subjects trust and have given him access to the everyday world of local customs and traditions, as well as the joys and worries that otherwise remain hidden behind the scenes of the tourist-friendly Cuba that the rest of the world gets to see. His »Cuba Inside« collection has been shown in multiple galleries across Germany. In 2018, Figueredo relocated to Germany with his wife Somaida and their daughter Yoana, but he still visits Cuba as often as he can.
Los Cubanos
CUBA’S SOULFULL LANDSCAPE OF THE HUMAN FACE
Volker Figueredo Véliz has connected on a deeply personal level, capturing the celebration of spirit through magnetic eye contact. Stare into those beautiful unflinching electric Latin eyes and you’ll discover every emotion on the human experience. The proud, the curious, and the joyous… portraits of an unbowed nation.
Jack Dykinga / Tucson
Cuba Inside -
Leica Gallery NuernBerg, Germany
Photos with the usual Cuba stereotypes are well known: happy people, in colorful dresses, in front of houses and in streets that look like time has stopped there. The American road cruisers from the fifties and the events staged for guests and tourists in bars and in the world of music. Somehow, these pictures are similar again and again.
Different with the photographs of Volker Figueredo Véliz. He is a photographer who spent much of his life in Havana. Here he got married, lived for many years and found his photographic inspirations.
With this Leica he is always looking for what is typical of Cuba, not is rarely or not seen by tourists and visitors and can not be seen either. The fact that he had also taken roots in Cuba in his family made it possible for him to win the trust of the people. Het got access to a world behind the scenes of the holiday country, to the everyday, to the manners and customs, to the joys and sorrows of the Cubans.
Figueredo is an excellent photographer, an autodidact, a person who knows how to use the camera to capture the essence of the moment – unpopulated, but always esthetically and technically perfect.
Surprisingly, his black-and-white photographs, which at first one does not even want to associate with the colorful Cuba, make them look fantastic, and they remain in memory beyond the moment of observation.
“Cuba – Inside” is the title of the exhibition. And the name promises intense photographic impressions from the interior of a country whose soul normally remains closed to a visitor.
Wolfram Reuter
Leica Gallery Nuremberg
VOLKER FIGUEREDO VÉLIZ – CUBA INSIDE
DATE:
20.07.2019 – 19.10.2019
LOCATION:
Leica Gallery Nuernberg
Obere Wörthstr. 8
90403 Nuernberg
Germany
Los Cubanos -
Leica Store Stuttgart, Germany
VOLKER FIGUEREDO VÉLIZ – LOS CUBANOS
DATE:
08.04.2020 – 18.04.2020
LOCATION:
Leica Store & Galerie Stuttgart
Calwer Str. 41
70173 Stuttgart
Germany
Cuba, a country that is immediately associated with cheerful people in colorful clothes. With cars from the 1950s that catch the eye of every tourist on the streets, as well as a relaxed atmosphere in Buena Vista bars combined with a Cuban cigar and the legendary local rum. A country that, if you let your gaze wander along the streets and houses, gives the impression that time has simply stood still.
Contrary to this first association, the German photographer and self-taught photographer Volker Figueredo Véliz opens up a completely new and at the same time very impressive view of the country and its people with his photographs. Figueredo has spent a large part of his life in Cuba. He got married in Cuba and found his photographic inspiration there. With his Leica, he documents again and again what is typical of Cuba and is rarely seen by vacationers and cannot be seen. He offers visitors to the Leica Gallery Stuttgart a glimpse behind the scenes, giving them an insight into everyday life, customs and traditions.
Figueredo is an excellent photographer who knows how to capture the essence of a moment with his camera – unposed, but always aesthetically and technically perfect.
Particularly impressive are his black and white photographs, which at first you don’t really want to associate with colorful Cuba. But it is precisely these images that stay with you. In 2021, in collaboration with dpunkt.Verlag, he published the book “Los Cubanos – Auf der Suche nach der Seele Kubas” (Los Cubanos – Searching for Cuba’s soul) which, in addition to its impressive photographs, it also contains interesting background information about the country and the people of Cuba. The book is also available at the Leica Gallery Stuttgart.
Volker Figueredo Véliz was born Volker Büffel in 1953 and worked for a large computer manufacturer for around 40 years. He then moved to Cuba, where he lived for several years, found his photographic inspiration and met his current wife. He has made a name for himself worldwide as a photographer with his photo series on Cuba. His series “Cuba Inside” has already been exhibited in several galleries in Germany. He has lived in Germany with his wife Somaida and daughter Yoana since 2018, but visits Cuba whenever he can.
