Biography

Pedro Abascal (Havana, 1960)

A self-taught photographer, in the early 1980s he participated in various workshops on the history of photography, manipulated photography and alternative image processes. Professionally he has worked as a photojournalist, advertising photographer and film photographer.

He has been a member of the jury of the National Photography Salon and the National Prize for Plastic Arts. He has held solo exhibitions in Cuba, the United States and Switzerland and has also participated in numerous collective exhibitions in Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, the United States, Spain, Italy, Germany, England, Denmark, France, Norway, China, Malaysia and Africa.

In 1996 he received a Special Mention from the Casa de las Américas Photographic Essay Award for his essay “Wings in the Shadow”, on the life and educational development of blind and visually impaired children. He has given lectures, master classes and developed workshops at various universities and cultural institutions in the United States.

Abascal is a renowned exponent of contemporary Cuban photography; With a peculiar sense of observation and a keen sensitivity, he goes beyond the limits of the anecdotal and descriptive by imprinting his work with a high symbolic charge, achieving pieces of great beauty, expressive force and a distinctive personal seal.

His work has been published in several national and international photography and visual arts anthologies such as: “Canto a la Realidad. Antología de La Fotografía Latinoamericana 1860-1993″, Proyecto Memoria, Viva La Vida and 100 años de Fotografía Cubana, among others.

In 2003 he published a monographic essay on his documentary work entitled “Documentos Personales”. Some of his pieces are part of public and private collections in Cuba, Mexico, France, Italy, Holland and in important educational institutions, galleries and museums in the United States.