Over the Rainbow

Girls celebrate the transition into womanhood with an ostentatious party, where they dress like princesses. The show of wealth is important, even in communist Cuba, where the ritual has transformed into a performance, with a special emphasis on the documentation of the event. The girls hire photographers to create images of themselves in elaborate poses, at times daring, other times dream-like. The photographs and the videos, a symbol of luxury and fortune, offer a different vision of Cuba and allow girls to live a fantasy and an ideal of femininity that they will remember forever, even though it represents just one day in their lives.

Diana Markosian is an Armenian-American artist whose work explores the relationship between memory and place. Born in the former Soviet Union, her family immigrated to the United States when she was a girl, leaving behind her father. In 2010 she graduated from the Columbia University School of Journalism. Her work can be found in publications including National Geographic Magazine, The New Yorker and The New York Times. She became a nominee of the prestigious Magnum agency in 2016 and two years later was awarded the Elliott Erwitt Havana Club 7 Fellowship.