I was born in Santiago de Cuba, where the sun has a habit of telling everything through light. I grew up in Havana, surrounded by radio antennas, rolls of film, and newsrooms filled with the smell of fresh ink and urgency. The son of a journalist, I learned from an early age that words carry weight, but that an honest image can make the world tremble.

Years later, I traded the Caribbean for Madrid, although my accent—and my way of seeing—remain firmly rooted in the tropics. I am a photojournalist, a storyteller working with light and shadow. I have collaborated with news agencies and media outlets including EFE, AFP, Reuters, Anadolu, El País, and Bloomberg News, among others, always searching for that single moment capable of telling the whole story.

Some of those pursuits took me further than I ever imagined. I received the King of Spain International Journalism Award and the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award, both for Best Photograph. In 2017, one of my images was selected by TIME magazine as one of the best photographs of the year. My work is also held in private collections in the United States, Spain, France, and Cuba.

I still believe that this profession is not simply about looking, but about understanding. About remaining true to oneself, moving through the world as a free man of integrity, and always trying to ensure that every shot—with a camera, of course—has something truthful to say.

In Focus: Me