el ojo de la mente, Cuba - mind&rsquo;s eye, Cuba Definition of mind&#39;s eye : the mental faculty of conceiving imaginary or recollected scenes mind&#39;s eye to create the story&#39;s setting As a photographer, I love telling stories. And &ldquo;el ojo de la mente, Cuba&rdquo; is the photographic story of a journey through Cuba. Through a country, full&nbsp;of visual associations, of emotions and also stereotypes&nbsp;... but above all longing. Longing drove me on this trip to a country that is culturally shaped like no other by its revolution, its politics, films, music and lifestyle. You know Cuba, we all know Cuba. My story is the story of my Cuba, very personal, maybe touristy or even naive. Someone told me that she particularly liked my pictures of Cuba, but she remembered Cuba much more colourful. My Cuba which reminded someone of her Cuba. My Cuba, which I have in my mind. The longing&hellip;. &nbsp;I have never made it to Cuba. &nbsp; My Cuba is my Cuba. We have all seen something regarding this island, where the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean meet. From &ldquo;Havana&rdquo; with Robert Redford or the &ldquo;Buena Vista Social Club&rdquo; to Hemingway and of course most of us have heard the name Castro and his epic fight against everything American. I traveled around the world and saw many beautiful, interesting, tragic and also dangerous places. Very often I looked at isolated photographs from those journeys and thought to myself&hellip;if I didn&rsquo;t know better&hellip;this could be Cuba. So I tell my story through the Cuba I know. The places and the feelings I long to discover and which come from places such La Reunion, Istanbul, the beaches of Sicily, the Venice market, the streets of Barcelona, Miami&hellip;&hellip;&nbsp;Maybe in these days of Social Media, Corona and everything influencing us via our modern lifestyle, my story is a modern story! We see things and tell ourselves stories. And maybe because I&#39;ve never been to Cuba and don&rsquo;t know better&hellip;..it is black and white.

EL OJO DE LA MENTE CUBA

The first time I visited the Oktoberfest was in 2012 and visiting this world&rsquo;s biggest folk festival makes someone feel quite overwhelmed.The 5th season, as it is lovingly called by the locals, carries a special time with it. The first day, when you find everything to be in virgin like conditions, makes your heart beat faster. It simply invites you to indulge. You feel that nothing can harm you. You are part of a common search, which leads the people that come here to celebrate.....to celebrate a drinking culture with equal seriousness and silliness, which lets everyone be part of it. You find yourself in the midst of unleashed emotions.The Fifth Season, is a documentation of the Oktoberfest in Munich, looking behing the scenes, embarking on a search for unusual situations, capturing intimate moments and telling a story from the viewpoint of someone who is new to this world&#39;s largest spectacle.

THE FIFTH SEASON

Gracefully Falling - a project about the Eisbachsufers and their riverwave. The Eisbachwave is a Munich landmark and incredibly popular with tourists. They come, gather around the surfers and photograph and video with their phones, cameras, short lenses and long lenses. I was wondering about the masses of great photographs and videos there must already be of those skillful surfers, gracefully riding the wave. But I also noticed that within our digital world and quick editing, photographs that didn&#39;t reflect the perfection and idea of what surfing should be like, were instantly deleted, mostly of the surfers falling...of course. I was wondering, what happens in those moments of no return, the moment of lost control, the fall into the wave. What I discovered were moments full of drama, equally graceful and a small wave becoming a colossus.

CHRISTOPH GROTHGAR photography