The Trinity Star Arts Council will present ‘Wandering, Not Lost,’ an exhibition of documentary photography by Austin photographer Kevin Sweeney. His timeless black and white photographs of Cuba depict intimate encounters with people in Havana and the Cuban countryside.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 12, 2026, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Downtown gallery, located on the west side of the square at 115 S. Mount Street, Fairfield, Texas 75840. The reception is open to the public. The artist will be present and will give a short presentation of his work and discuss the importance of photographs as records and artistic expressions.
Kevin Francis Sweeney is a fine art documentary photographer and graphic designer. Kevin grew up in Houston, Texas and is a graduate of Tulane University. He completed an MFA in Computer Art at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His work has been exhibited in the U.S. and internationally. He is based in Austin, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana.
From 2023-2024, Kevin was a TOWER Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, studying archival practices. His current multidisciplinary studio, Rare Specimen Design, is located in Austin and serves as a design office, photography studio, and gallery.
The photographs in the exhibit were made over several trips to Cuba from 2004 – 2018. He received a grant from Pittsburgh Filmmakers in 2005 and in 2014 participated in the Cuban Footsteps Project, which brought together a group of Cuban and American photographers to reinterpret Walker Evans’ Cuba work from 1933.
In returning to Cuba eight decades after Walker Evans first documented the island, Kevin wrote that he was influenced by Japanese poet Matsuo Basho’s quote: “Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old: seek what they sought.”
As he walked many of the same Havana streets, Kevin shared he was challenged to do more than re-photograph the locations that Evans had in 1933. “I was guided by a few references to Evans’ goals of wanting to capture people unaware, in a private bubble of self, and also looking for urban geometry with an eye for the vernacular.
These two elements resonated with my interests in design as well as recent work exploring the idea of in-between moments, the insignificant moments at pause or in transition. These moments are ordinary, not decisive or monumental, and from my study of Evans I see that he sought to make the ordinary beautiful.”
The TSAC Downtown Gallery will also be open on weekdays, March 13-24 from 11-2 to view the photography exhibit Wandering Not Lost.
For more information about the exhibit or the mission of the Trinity Star Arts Council and upcoming events, visit the website TrinityStarArtsCouncil.org
