To stroll the streets of Cuba—to hear the rumbling engines of its 1950s automobiles, the jazz, and the rumba—is to travel back in time, to see jaw-dropping natural beauty and the artists, musicians, and folklore of legends.

With access few others have had, Cynthia Carris Alonso has spent twenty years capturing Havana’s crumbling, baroque splendor. Her photographs celebrate the dreamy palette of Cuba—salmon pink, sky blue, apricot, aqua green—and reveal the contrast between patina homes; peeling stucco apartments; and the great Capitol Building, Havana Cathedral, and Hotel Nacional.

With Passage to Cuba, Alonso opens the doors to an exquisite but rarely seen place. So take a stroll along the Malecón seawall; marvel at the dancers with their colorful, ornate costumes; lose yourself in José Fuster’s spellbinding mosaic designs; or simply relax in the warm sun of the countryside, where the calm, aging fishermen spend their days and where Ernest Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea.

This keepsake volume is a breathtaking tribute to a land with a complex history. It’s a lush, vibrant collection of photographs and a road map to use to embark on a remarkable odyssey. “Cynthia Carris Alonso depicts Cuba with an insider’s access and a visitor’s sense of wonder. She captured rare views of authentic Cuban culture: innovative artisans and vibrant musicians, vintage cars and buildings in faded glory, colorful characters whose relative isolation hasn’t dampened their spirits. It’s an insightful survey of a land with a rich but enigmatic past and a promising future.” —Jack Crager, Senior Contributing Editor, American Photo

“Cynthia Carris Alonso’s poetic images are word pictures chock-full of Caribbean color and light that reveal a passionate people whose magical spirit appears to sing and dance before her very lens.” —Patricia Pedraza, Senior Producer, CNN en Español

“Passage to Cuba takes the viewer on a visual journey to a land that time forgot. From musicians to architecture, Alonso’s images document the complex culture with undiluted sincerity.” —James K. Colton, Editor at Large, ZUMA Press, and Former Director of Photography, Sports Illustrated, Sipa Press, and Newsweek

“Cynthia is able to manifest in photography the same soulfulness that one hears in the music, moves in the dance, feels in the warmth of sunlight on skin, and resides so deeply Cuba.” —Rachel Faro, Grammy Award–Nominated Record Producer, President, Ashe Records, and Cuban Music Specialist

“Cynthia Carris Alonso has a rare photographic eye, one that captures not only Cuba’s beauty, but also the soul of its special culture. In Cynthia’s photographs, you’ll see why Cuba inspires so much passion and love.” —Sandra Levinson, Executive Director, the Center for Cuban Studies/Cuban Art Space, New York City