Award-winning travel photographer and Cuba expert Christopher P. Baker will once again lead his annual ‘Sensual Havana’ art-nude photography workshop in Havana, Cuba, December 12-19, 2026.
On this unforgettable fine-art nude and glamour photo tour, Baker plus one of Cuba’s leading female photographers will offer personal guidance as you shoot some of Cuba’s most beautiful women in Havana’s incomparably time-worn settings. Your models will include free-spirited ballerinas of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, plus Afro-Cuban dancers, Tropicana showgirls, and professional models spanning Cuba’s full ethnic diversity.
Click the link for full details of Sensual Havana: Glamour & Artistic Nude Photo Workshop Tour, offered every December since 2022.
Havana is as fantastic a backdrop for glamour and sensual fine-art photography as exists in this world, given its mixture of Spanish colonial and faded baroque architecture, its wealth of 1950s American cars, and its stimulating aura of exoticism. To which, add Cuba’s stunningly beautiful women, and their joyous at-ease delight in being photographed and expressing their sensuality.
This one-of-a-kind photo tour makes the most of Havana’s fantastic settings and beautiful, self-assured women. Chris’ respectful and elegant treatment of the subject pays tribute to all that is positive about the Cuban Revolution and its advancement of women’s rights and self-determination, while also honoring their own unashamedly and affirmatively self-confident and sensuous way.
In addition to shooting in Havana’s made-for-Hollywood streets, photogenically dilapidated buildings, and fabulous retro mansions, we’ll feature staged shoots at such atmospheric locations as Parque José Martí stadium…. El Morro castle… the Art Deco Teatro América… Edificio Girón… woodsy Bosque de la Habana… surreal El Jardín de la Trópical… the Cojímar fishing cooperative… and a much-faded Vedado mansion where Annie Leibowitz photographed Rhianna naked for Vanity Fair.
Our focus throughout will be on images that are statements on Cuba, not mere glamour photos. Since much of our shooting will be outdoors in public places, we will use our models as compositional elements that add dynamic perspective to intriguing street scenes and exotic locations. A sense of place is paramount! We will NOT be experimenting with a wide range of gear, lighting setups, or creative in-camera techniques. Instead, reflecting Chris’ own background as a travel photographer unencumbered by lots of gear, we will work almost exclusively with natural light. Plus, our focus throughout will be on elegance and good taste to ensure the most classy and respectful results that dignify womanhood and femininity.
Our photography should be viewed as an opportunity to create art for the sake of art, with a focus on shape, form, mood, light and shadow, and storytelling in the style of Lindsay Adler, Len Metcalfe, Steve Anchell, Greg Gorman, Renée Jacobs, and Yuliya Panchenko.
The emphasis will be on posture, posing and composition, including placing our models in unusual settings and unexpected or fascinating scenes, and using creative approaches that play with light, scene, and an intriguing narrative. Of course, whether outdoors or in more controlled indoor settings, we’ll also experiment with the interplay of highlight and shadow and mood to express our creativity and story-telling. We will work around an idea or artistic concept rather than simply photographing our models. The viewer should be inspired to see a creative expression of beauty and elegance, or other artistic exploration, not a naked figure or body parts. Composition, texture, graphic pattern and narrative concept take precedence. This becomes even more important in artistic nude photography; sculpting and differentiating curves and musculature for artistic allure and/or erotic effect.
Christopher P. Baker has been hailed by National Geographic as “One of the world’s leading authorities on Cuba travel and culture.” His words and images have appeared in hundreds of articles and books about Cuba, from BBC and CNN to National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, plus Playboy and Penthouse (as well as seven travel books on Cuba, including National Geographic Traveler Cuba, the Moon Cuba handbook, plus his coffee-table book, Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles). Chris has led more than 150 group trips to Cuba under the “people-to-people” and “support for the Cuban people” licenses, including many photographic tours for Jim Cline Photo Tours, Lumaria Workshops, National Geographic Expeditions, and Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.
This program is offered legally under the “support for the Cuban people” license, which permits all U.S. citizens to travel pre-approved to Cuba. It is designed to maximize “support for the Cuban people” through stays at private B&Bs, meals at private restaurants, and interactions with independent artists, photographers, models, and actresses, etc.
The trip is limited to only six clients and is sure to fill up fast. Reserve now!
