YUMA: Portraits From a Cuban Journey – 1hr talk
Start Date: Saturday 21/06/2025
Time: 05:30pm
Duration: 1 hrs
Price: £5
Ability: All Welcome
Tutor: James Clifford Kent
Tickets Available: 18
About this course
Artist's Talk + Q&A with James Clifford Kent
Step into two decades of Cuban life through the lens of Twickenham-based photographer James Clifford Kent. In this hour-long talk and Q&A, James will share images and stories from Yuma, his forthcoming photobook (GOST Books, 2026), offering a rare window into the close relationships and everyday moments that have shaped this long-term body of work. Reflecting on his encounters with people and places on the Caribbean's largest island, James will speak candidly about the process of documenting lives over time—how trust is built, stories unfold, and images take on meaning beyond the frame. This event is ideal for anyone with an interest in photography, portraiture or simply the power of visual storytelling to connect us across distance and time.
About the speaker
James Clifford Kent is a Twickenham-based photographer and Associate Professor of Visual Culture at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is also the founder of Yuma Studios, an agency for creative and collaborative visual storytelling.
His practice is shaped by long-term engagement with communities and an interest in how photography intersects with history, identity and space. Since 2004, he has travelled extensively in Cuba, where he has built sustained relationships and produced a body of work spanning personal and socio-economic realities — from everyday life to historic moments such as Fidel Castro’s funeral in 2016.
James’s work has been published in BBC News, The Guardian, British Journal of Photography, The Times, and It’s Nice That, among others. He completed his PhD at the University of London in 2012 and is the author of Aesthetics and the Revolutionary City: Real and Imagined Havana (2019). In 2022, he was awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Photographic Society.
Recent projects include NHMN, a photographic series responding to the deepening crisis in Cuba, selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2024. His Maternity series, created in partnership with CW+ and NHS England at West Middlesex Hospital, was awarded The Lancet’s photography prize and featured in Portrait of Britain and Portrait of Humanity.
His first photobook, Yuma, will be published by GOST in 2026. It brings together unpublished images, interviews and stories from two decades of living and working in Cuba.
Book Your Place
Event FAQs
“Taking the time to learn in the inspiring environment of Colne Road Studios was such a treat! The group was welcoming and supportive and Rachel is an extremely talented and generous teacher, sharing her skills and knowledge to give us fresh perspectives and a wealth of useful advice and feedback. I felt my ability and interest in drawing had been revived after many years dormant, learning how to observe as well as how to draw. I would encourage anyone willing to pick up a pencil to have a go, and have already signed up to Rachel’s next course! “CB March 2025
A CPZ is in force from Mon to Sat 8.30 – 6.30pm
Limited paid spaces available in surrounding roads with Ring Go cashless Parking
Max stay 4 hours during operational hours
Holly Road Car park, behind Marks & Spencer TW1 4HF
Mon to Sat – 8am to 6.30pm.
This car park is accessible and free to park in outside of these hours. Max stay 4 hours during operational hours – walking to the Studio approx 9mins
At the moment the courses at Colne Road Studios are designed for adults over the age of 18 . The aim is to create a relaxed environment, provide a bit of an escape and switch off from every day responsibilites. We are not able to accommodate children in our classes, nor do we provide children’s classes at this time.
To secure a course, please book at least 8 days before the listed course start date.
Any course with no bookings 8 days prior to it’s start date will then be removed from the website .
Courses with fewer than 3 participants may be cancelled, with 5 days’ notice given to those who had enrolled.
You will be notified by email if this happens, unless you would like us to text you instead, but please let us know.
A refund for the full course value will then be made.
Please bare with us . This might take 5-10 days to come through.
100 Colne Road Twickenham TW2 6QE. map ref
WHAT3WORDS : location kind.cook.honest
All of our longer courses are exchangeable up until 28 days prior to the start of the course. After this, you are able to change your booking to a different course for a £20 admin fee. Please note that from 14 days prior to the start of the course, your booking is non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
Our refund policy is strict because it enables us to pay ourselves and our tutors a fair wage, and remain accessible as a studio.
Every time we are asked to to accommodate a refund request, we would be forced to lower our staff wages or increase our prices – both of which we really want to avoid. We hope you understand that this is why there are no exemptions to our refund policies.
What if the course is cancelled by Colne Road Studios ?
Courses with fewer than 3 participants may be cancelled, with 5 days’ notice given to those who had enrolled.
You will be notified by email if this happens, unless you would like us to text you instead, but please let us know.
A refund for the full course value will then be made.
Please bare with us . This might take 5-10 days to come through.