An American Journalist’s Inside Look at Castro’s Cuba

As a young photojournalist in 1958, Lee Lockwood boarded a plane to Havana to cover the end of Fulgencio Batista’s presidency. As luck would have it, Lockwood arrived in Cuba a day before Fidel Castro came to power.

For the first few days of his trip, the photographer went on a journey driving around the country speaking with locals until he finally tracked down the revolutionary leader. Lockwood’s encounter with Fidel would lead to over a decade of exceptional access.

“Fidel, Cuba’s No. 1, nonstop orator,” Santiago de Cuba, Cuba’s second largest city, 1967. (Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

Lockwood would end up making several trips back to Cuba, some through Castro’s invitation. His relationship with the Cuban leader granted him special access to Castro’s inner circle and freedom to explore the island without the usual restrictions imposed upon American journalists, ultimately leading to an interview that lasted seven consecutive days. The results of his work were published in 1967 with his book Castro’s Cuba, Cuba’s Fidel. 

TASCHEN recently revisited Lookwood’s interviews and observations in the book titled Castro’s Cuba. An American Journalist’s Inside Look at Cuba, 1959–1969.   The stories are accompanied by hundreds of photos taken during his travels with Castro and Cuba’s transformation throughout the 60’s, many of which have never been published before.

Lockwood on the baseball field with Castro, 1964. (Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

“On Varadero Beach near Havana, once reserved for tourists, Castro meets young skin divers. He enthralled them with accounts of his own diving and fishing.” —Life, August 28, 1964 (Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

Oriente Province, 1966 – “I spent three days with Castro in a retreat in the mountains of Oriente Province, during which he and Vallejo read every word of the manuscript carefully. He made a number of changes, most of them either slight adjustments of wording for greater clarity or minor corrections of fact.” —Lee Lockwood (Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

The 1964 “José Martí” housing project in Santiago de Cuba was designed by a group of Cuban architects using prefabricated panels as part of the trend of importing Eastern European precast construction systems. The façade’s design shows a sensitive climate approach by using latticework panels to filter the strong sunlight. 1967. (Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

Camarioca, Matanzas, October 1965. “In a move that caught the United States by surprise, Castro opened the small port of Camarioca as an emigration center to which Cuban exiles in America were invited to come in small boats to pick up their relatives and friends.” —Lee Lockwood (Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

Santiago de Cuba, 26th of July, 1967. (Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

“We Support Fidel,” 26th of July, Revolution Square, Havana, 1959 (Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

(Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

(Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

(Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

(Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)

(Lee Lockwood/TASCHEN)