The prominent Cuban photographer Kenny Lemes has passed away in Argentina

The 39-year-old Cuban-Argentine photographer Kenny Lemes was found dead on Wednesday in his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a long silent struggle with depression.

Friends of the artist confirmed to CiberCuba that the young man committed suicide. In scheduled emails that he left to be sent to his friends after his death, Lemes requested that no funeral be held in his honor, that his body be cremated, and that his ashes be sent to the island.

However, their friends will organize an "artistic farewell" this Friday in Buenos Aires to pay tribute to the creative legacy filled with symbolism and reflection of Lemes, who focused their art on the representation of diverse bodies, often marked by pain and marginality.

In an interview with the independent portal CubaNet in 2023, he stated: “I believe that the truth of people is on the skin. (...) No one can capture the essence of anything, nor the truth of anything because EVERYTHING is a pose, a performance.”

The artist claimed that he liked "people who seem to be in the middle of a storm. And who seem to have a story."

The images he captured not only portrayed people but also invited the viewer to question and reflect on their own perceptions: “I like images that raise questions and create mysteries, doubts, whispers: ‘Look, she has an injured leg; look at that tattoo; see what she’s doing. Is that a woman or a man? Is it trans? Is that blood? Where did it come from?’”

Regarding his work, Lemes stated that his reflection on an apparent "non-happiness" was a conscious choice.

"I have friends and photographer colleagues who capture dissidences, and most of them document couples, embraces, smiling people, collective struggle, kisses, flowers. That is a completely valid record; the world also needs to know that dissidences are capable of building successful life projects. However, my work does not focus on those happy places because I believe that in the shadows (in the shadow of that rainbow, if you will) my search is enriched. I choose to represent other types of identities that are more complex, identities that do not wish to reproduce heteronormative standards of life or beauty, people who do not aim to conform, who do not desire nuclear families, nor talk about monogamy, nor define in a positive way a generalized manner of relating," they expressed in an Instagram post.

After learning of the tragic outcome, his friend Carlos Alejandro Rodríguez stated in an emotional Facebook post that "Perhaps all of Kenny Lemes's work is a self-portrait, from one end to the other. Each photo would be a part of him, and not just his image (even if you don't believe me)."

Born in Havana in 1985, Lemes emigrated to Argentina at the age of 11, where he developed a successful career in contemporary photography.

His work was characterized by a deep exploration of the skin, the body, and their relationship with identity, gender, and performativity.

In 2019, Lemes traveled to Cuba with the intention of developing a photographic project focused on the gay and trans community of the Island. However, he abandoned the idea after facing difficulties in getting his subjects to agree to be photographed.

Lemes was recognized for his work in Argentina, where he received second prize in Photography at the National Salon of Visual Arts in 2021 and an honorable mention in the Visual Arts Award from the National Arts Fund in 2016.

In 2019, he/she received a scholarship to study at the Roberto Jacoby Center for Artistic Research.

Among her most notable exhibitions are the one presented at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de La Boca (MARCO) in 2020 and Singular fosforescencia, which was inaugurated in 2021 at the Centro Cultural España in Córdoba.

Frequently Asked Questions about Kenny Lemes and His Legacy in Photography