At Oswego State, celebrating ethnic diversity is no foreign concept. Students take pride in their individual heritages, backgrounds and cultures. The student body thrives in response to this, and individuality is always encouraged.

Throughout September, various events have been planned to celebrate the Oswego State Hispanic Latino Heritage Month. ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Native American Student Leadership Conference) and LSU (Latino Student Union), in collaboration with Julieve Jubin, exhibited an arrangement of vibrant photography in the lobby of Hewitt Union themed around Cuban life and culture. The 11 photographs were visually pleasing from a distance, each one telling its own individual story.

The photo directly in the center of the exhibit read “Viva Cuba Libre,” long live Cuban life, on a bright blue wall in yellow graffiti. This photo describes Cuban culture within itself. Cubans value bright colors and the simple things like graffiti lettering on a building in life. Most live in poverty, but their bright spirits conquer every obstacle that comes their way.

Cuba is the most populated country in the Caribbean, with more than 11 million residents. It has a total area of 42,426 square miles, making it the 105th largest country in the world.

Culture varies slightly from region to region, but dance, art, music and literacy are heavily practiced there. Well-known Cuban ballerinas earn a higher salary than doctors and Cuba has a 99.8% literacy rate, one of the highest in the world.

Even with all of the positive factors named, Cuba still is under very strict communist rule. Only 5 percent of the 11 million Cubans have access to the free internet, making technological advancements nearly impossible to the common citizen. They were prohibited to own cellphones until 2008 and even in 2017 it is not common for a cuban to have one. Until 2011, there was a ban on all car imports to Cuba. Until then, their streets were filled with cars from the 1950s. The average income salary for a Cuban household is a mere $5,539 and the monthly take-home salary is $20. This puts into perspective how life differs from country to country.

With all of these setbacks, it is expected to view depressing images when capturing Cuban life, but the opposite was displayed in Hewitt Union. The photographs captured smiles and children at play. They captured the simplicity of a colorful bike and women playing the drums in a circle. They showed an arrangement of colorful fruit, and scenery overlooking the ocean.

Julieve Jubin is an associate professor here in the Oswego State art department. Her photography is stunning and her work has been featured in the US, Canada, Europe and Cuba. She combines photography with digital media, producing high-quality pieces that represent her subject matter with an innovative approach. Jubin has been extensively photographing Cuba since 2011. Her work is in the collection of the New York University Law School, the Peddler Foundation, and is included in several private collections.

Jubin’s work hopes to teach and inspire those in its presence. She brings the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” to life by capturing moments in Cuban life that Americans do not directly relate to. Life in other countries can be taught in classes through facts, names, and dates of events, but artwork brings a whole new perspective to history and culture. The photos on display in Hewitt Union demonstrate this, and enhance the celebration of Hispanic Latino Heritage Month at Oswego State.