Herman Puig
Herman Puig was born in Havana, Cuba, he began his career there and later gained fame in France. His heritage is Catalonian.
Herman Puig
- Born
- 1928 · Sagua La Grande.
- Died
- 2021 · Barcelona.
- Nationality
- Cuba
- Occupation
- photographer · painter
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Herman Puig was born in Havana, Cuba, he began his career there and later gained fame in France. His heritage is Catalonian.
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wikidata · Q3134085 · wikipedia · Herman Puig
In this article
Early years
Early years
He studied painting and sculpture in Cuba and filmed his first short, "Sarna," before moving to Paris at the age of 20 to study Audiovisual Techniques. In 1950, he worked with Henri Langlois, director and co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française. This collaboration led to the founding of the original Cinemateca de Cuba, officially established as an institution in 1948 by Herman Puig and Ricardo Vigón. The Cinemateca de Cuba was later revived in 1961 by Alfredo Guevara and the newly formed ICAIC, becoming today's Cuba Cinemateca. Puig, along with Carlos Franqui, future ICAIC cameraman Ramón F. Suárez, and writers Edmundo Desnoes and Guillermo Cabrera Infante (author of Tres tristes tigres), produced several short films. Puig and Franqui collaborated on a short film, Carta de una madre (Letter to a Mother), and Puig and Edmundo Desnoes also made the short film Sarna (1952), which was produced and edited by cinematographer Ramón F. Suárez.
Modern Herman
Modern Herman
Puig was the subject of a film by David Boisseaux-Chical, which explores his cultural exile from Cuba. In the film, Puig expresses his frustration at being associated with pornography and homosexuality simply for wanting to photograph male bodies as art, rather than focusing on women. Puig recently addressed issues of beauty, art, and expression restrictions in Cuba during a conference with author Zoé Valdés in Palma de Mallorca.
The Hidden Cinemateca
Death
Death
Puig died on 25 January 2021, just one month shy of his 93rd birthday.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1928
Herman Puig born at Sagua La Grande.
2021
Herman Puig died at Barcelona.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Sagua La Grande.
Birth place
Barcelona.
Death place
Cinema to Male Nude Photography
In October 1950, Puig traveled to Paris, where he met with Henri Langlois, the director of the Cinémathèque Française. Their brief but pivotal encounter led Langlois to agree to provide French films for the Cinema Club of Havana (the early Cinemateca de Cuba), on the condition that the club become an official institution. The Cinémathèque Française could only legally exchange films with similar institutions. Unforeseen political issues led to the closure of the Cinemateca a few months later, and it would not reopen until 1961. However, Puig's affinity for France and his place in Cuban cinema history were firmly established. From the 1960s to the 1970s, Puig worked in advertising as a photographer and publicity filmmaker in Spain. In Madrid, he began experimenting with male nudes but was arrested in an alleged drug case and charged as a pornographer under the socialist government’s climate. He then moved to Paris to prove to Spain and the world that he was an artist, not a pornographer, and was met with almost universal acclaim. He later moved to Barcelona, where he resides to this day.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3134085: Herman Puig
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Herman Puig”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- VIAF cluster 72762795 for Herman Puig, aggregating national library name authorities.
General reference · OCLC
References
Citations
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authority file
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Herman Puig is recorded as photographer and painter.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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