Paula came to Spain eight months ago. She travelled more than 6,000 kilometres across the sea from Havana, Cuba, to study Photography and Video in Valencia, at LABA, a school where 70% of the students are international, all full of love for different art forms and a passion for learning.

Paula did not arrive alone. She was accompanied by a hard drive full of photographs, full of life, style, scents, beautiful fashion shots that she had been taking for several years, selecting faces, walking through streets, shops, gardens, colonial houses, frames, colours. She felt lonely for a few months in Valencia, a vital process that some of the students inevitably go through. Despite all the company, the classes, the new activities… her life in Cuba had been left behind. Valencia has a lot of Havana and Havana has a lot of Valencia; he walked through the streets and instead of faces he began to photograph the buildings.

The process of professional growth takes time, the necessary time. Evolution is the result of learning, in Paula, in Juliette, in Sofia, in Michelle, in Christian, in all the students who have started to study Photography and Video. Suddenly, one day, Paula will invade us again with new faces and frames, with new fragrances, the fruit of years lived plus this great experience that she and all her classmates are now facing in their first year here.

(Photographs by Paula Chavarría, in Havana, Cuba)

Paula, fashion photography: https://www.instagram.com/poppychavarria/
Paula, architectural photography: https://www.instagram.com/poppylandia_/