Fortunate Steps -

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Résumé :
?Authentic and fresh? the streets remain the preserve of those who live there ? and when
photographing the people he is among them, not sneaking a snap from across the street. ? AG Photography Magazine reviewing ?A Few Streets?, John Comino-James?s first book about Havana.

In his second book of photographs made in Havana, John Comino-James has again set out to explore a part of
the city not normally visited by tourists. The geographical scope of the photographs is restricted to a single
road, the Calzada del Diez de Octubre. The route itself predates the foundation of the Parish of Jes?s del Monte
in the 17th century and was formerly known as the Calzada de Jes?s del Monte. In 1918 the road was renamed
in commemoration of one of the most important events in Cuban history ? the declaration of the first full-scale
war of independence against Spanish colonial rule on 10th October 1868 by Carlos Manuel de C?spedes.

Although its once important function as the principal route to the south has been superseded with the construction
of new highways, the Calzada still remains a busy urban thoroughfare. Through engaged portraits and candid
observation and with an eye for both architectural detail and the imposing fa?ades that stand as testimony
to the changing architectural styles of well over a century, John Comino-James creates an intimate and sympathetic record of the Calzada del Diez de Octubre which, through its long history, occupies an important place in the imagination and memory of Habaneros today.

Born in Somerset, John Comino-James lives near Thame in Oxfordshire. He has published four previous books
of photographs; Nearly Every Tuesday, which documented Thame?s weekly street market; Fairground Attraction,
which explored the way of life of travelling showmen; A Few Streets, A Few People, an intimate portrayal of
the people and surroundings of the Cayo Hueso barrio in Havana, Cuba; and In a Very English Town, which,
through photographs and texts acknowledges some of the qualities that typify Thame as an English market
town.