According to photographer Michael Christopher Brown, Americans have a “distant idea” of Cuba, often idealizing the island as a paradise of architecture, cigars, rum, and vintage automobiles. Brown will discuss his ongoing “Paradiso” project, which reveals the more complex reality of how Cubans are “surviving the paradise.” Brown followed two young DJs in Havana, and their youthful electronica scene, capturing a generation that came of age during the “Special Period” who are trying to thrive in a society largely cut off from the rest of the world.

Michael Christopher Brown was raised in the Skagit Valley, a farming community in Washington State. His most recent photographic work documents the youthful electronica scene in Havana, Cuba, the aftermath of the death of Fidel Castro, and the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Brown is a contributing photographer at National Geographic.