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Cinematic Cuba: Classic cars, old city streets and Cuban spirit captured by Stijn Hoekstra

After visiting Cuba last year, it will forever hold a special place in my heart. Alongside its beautiful beaches, vibrant music scene and unparalleled cool – thanks to the abundance of classic cars roaming the roads – its people are amongst the friendliest I've ever met.

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Via direct submission. All images courtesy of Stijn Hoekstra

Via direct submission. All images courtesy of Stijn Hoekstra

Stijn Hoekstra, freelance photographer and cinematographer based in Amsterdam, clearly feels the same way.

After graduating in cinematography, Hoekstra became focused on street photography. For the last three years, he has undertaken projects for both big and small companies, working on various campaigns. However, the photographer's true passion is to travel and capture the unknown. This project, entitled Cinematic Cuba consists of street photography and portraits.

Hoekstra says: "As a cinematographer I'm always looking to get an interesting shot – framing and lighting is very important. In previous projects it was all about the streets, but for this project it was about capturing portrait shots of the Cuban people.

"Because of the old city streets and beautiful classic cars, I wanted to combine my Sony A7RII camera with old lenses from the 1970s to enhance that 'old' feeling Cuba gives you. The lenses worked great with beautiful bokeh and great flares."

Discover more at stijnhoekstra.nl.

Orange classic car parked on a street beneath gnarled tree trunks in front of a turquoise-painted building with red-trimmed windows
Man wearing straw hat and light blue shirt smoking cigar on tree-lined Cuban street
A figure walks past a white-walled colonial building with a decorative iron-barred window beside a peachy-pink building under clear blue sky in Cuba
A person fishing from a waterfront promenade lined with colonial-era buildings and street lamps, with the sea and sky beyond
Elderly Cuban woman with white hair wearing a floral dress and beaded necklaces, leaning out of a weathered wooden window frame in a pale blue-walled building
Children playing baseball on a sunlit street lined with weathered colonial buildings in Cuba
Three children play in a dusty courtyard in front of terracotta-coloured houses with bare trees overhead, captured in golden evening light
A vintage black Chevrolet parked on a wet street in Cuba at sunset, framed by colonial buildings and overhead power lines
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