“90 Miles”, Michael Christopher Brown
Curated by: Panagiotis Pappas
90 Miles is an AI reportage illustration experiment exploring realities of Cuban life since the late 1950’s, including historical events, and Cubans’ preparation, escape, crossing, and arrival in Florida.
This work is based on true stories, but is, of course, not real.
Reportage illustration has been used for over 150 years in journalistic publications, and in some way, has been around since the dawn of civilization.
Reportage illustration is a kind of visual journalism. The illustrator conveys a narrative and reports a specific moment. The central premise of reportage illustration is storytelling.
AI’s improvements in photorealistic quality inspired me to create 90 Miles last year, in the tradition of reportage illustration.
Midjourney was used to create this imagery.
I gathered AI prompts from years of conversations with Cubans while living in Cuba, and life long research.
While working in Cuba from 2014-2016, I attempted to photograph the story of Cubans who courageously escape each year to the United States, mostly via homemade watercraft of some kind.
However, any coverage of refugees escaping Cuba would risk endangering Cubans who remained in the country.
There was just no safe and ethical way for me to either access or document this story IRL.
I had been learning about this journey of escape for years, watching TV and reading newspapers while growing up in America.
A Google image search will reveal imagery of Cubans coming ashore in Florida, mostly in homemade vessels.
The Cubans who attempt the crossing are extremely resourceful, which is reflected in their rafts assembled from inner tubes, pieces of wood and plastic, household supplies, etc.
The story of 90 Miles speaks to the 90 miles (~145 km) of ocean separating Cuba and Florida.
This story begins in the late 50’s and early 60’s, not long after Fidel Castro came to power and following the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Cuba experienced dramatic political change, and its economy quickly deteriorated.
Today, 60 years later, lack of economic opportunity still remains arguably the largest motivator for an escape.
Nearly a 1/2 million Cubans fled in 2022 and 2023, when Cuba experienced its largest exodus since the 1980s due to an ongoing economic crisis, with soaring inflation alongside shortages of food and medicine.
Exhibition Space of the Municipal Cultural Multiplex “D. Chatzis” (Old Slaughterhouses)
Duration: 28.9 – 13.10
Mon. – Fri.: 18:00 – 22:00
Sat. – Sun.: 10:00 – 14:00 & 18:00 – 22:00