attempt to prove to Spain and the world that he was not a pornographer but an artist and was accepted with almost universal acclaim. A little later he moved to Barcelona where he remains to this day. Modern Herman Herman Puig was made the subject of a film by David Boisseaux-Chical about his cultural exile from Cuba. In the film he continues to affirm his dislike at being associated with the worlds of pornography and homosexuality, simply for wanting to photograph male bodies as art instead of that of women. Puig recently spoke out along in his conference with author Zoé Valdés in Palma de Mallorca about beauty and art and the restrictions placed upon expression in Cuba. The Hidden Cinemateca Puig often stated that he was the original founder of the Cinemateca de Cuba, stating that the ICAIC, with the goal of making the myth live that the history of Cuban cinema began with the creation of the ICAIC in 1959, has hidden the truth from sight. The attempted suppression of his involvement, along with that of Ricardo Vigón, from history for political means has aided in sheltering Herman from the Cuban community as he frequently refuses to exhibit his work in Cuba in fear of his being mistaken as a sympathizer with the Communist regime. El Ateneo de Madrid officially acknowledged them as the founders of the Cinemateca de Cuba with a tribute to German Puig in October 2009. Death Herman Puig died on 25 January 2021, one month short from his 93rd birthday. References Notes External links Juan Cruz "Herman Puig fotografía el desnudo masculino", June 13, 1979, elPais (Spanish) Herman speaks out in Majorca with Zoe Valdes , April 2008, DiarioDeMallorca (Spanish) 1928 births 2021 deaths Cuban expatriates in France Cuban male painters Cuban photographers