FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Cuba remains an enigma to many living in the United States. Shrouded in virtual isolation for the better part of 50 years, the island nation of nearly 11.5 million people is much closer to the U.S. mainland than either Hawaii or Alaska, yet not many Americans are allowed to travel there.

Photographer Chip Cooper is one of the fortunate few. He has focused his lens on the capitol city of Havana many times, and will share his experiences as well as his photographs Nov. 8, at 3 p.m., at the University of South Alabama Baldwin County Performance Center, 111 St. James Ave. in Fairhope. The latest in the USABC Distinguished Lecture Series is free and open to the public.

“Going to Cuba is a very emotional thing because it’s like going behind the Iron Curtain,” Cooper said this week. “We watched the Soviet Union splinter into several countries, but (Cuba) is still off-limits. People know less about Cuba than North Korea.”

Cooper is fascinated with the beautiful Spanish architecture found there. He said, “It’s like a miniature Madrid or Seville. This was like a holding place for all of Spain’s loot from Mexico and Latin America. They raped and pillaged.”

During its reign in the 1500s and 1600s, Spain built magnificent structures, Cooper said. On the flip side of the coin, utilitarian Russian architecture erected in the 1960s became a blight on the landscape, he added.

Cooper is most enthralled with the Cuban people, however.

He said, “I’ve watched them put their lives together without the necessary ingredients. We’ve got the necessary ingredients, but we pay other people to do it.” Cooper was referring to their ability to adapt, even as an American trade embargo continues to prevent the shipment of needed products to the Communist nation.

It is not uncommon, he said, to see 1957 Chevrolet sedans rolling on city streets, powered by Russian engines that were rigged to fit the American-made bodies.

“It’s an indescribable country — the sights, the smells. It’s a sensory overload every time I travel down there,” Cooper said.

His effort is a project begun when Angus Cooper (no relation), head of a Mobile-based stevedoring company, presented an initial endowment to the University of Alabama in order to get connected with Cuba for academic and research methods. The Cuban-American initiative promotes a stronger American role in Cuba, the photographer said.

Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler, the architectural historian of Havana and director of the restoration program of Old Havana, had seen books displaying Cooper’s photography, and wanted him to be connected to Havana through his work.

Cooper started working with one of Cuba’s premiere photographers, Nèstor Marti, on a project entitled “Side by Side.” Their dual role was to catch the essence of life and landscape of old Havana, according to Cooper.

This was the first time Cooper had ever worked with another photographer. He said, “We are both trained professional artists, so we are bouncing energy off of each other.”

Cooper pointed out the result of their work is reminiscent of photographer Walker Evans and writer James Agee, two Americans whose collaboration led to the 1941 book about three tenant farm families, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.”

“It’s the people. You literally feel like the clock stopped in 1959 (when Castro came to power),” Cooper said. “But they wear up-to-date fashion. Everyone goes to Cuba except the Americans.”

More than 100 faculty from the Capstone have visited Cuba since the initiative began, and courses have been taught there. Cooper hosted an exhibit of his photographs there in May.

This area was chosen by Cooper for the first American showing of these photos because Angus Cooper is from south Alabama, and the photographer knows Mobile continues to have strong ties to Cuba.

“I’d already decided to have a show with Patina Gallery (in Fairhope) when USABC invited me to participate in the lecture series,” he said.

Asked about how the Cuban people view Americans, Cooper said, “They’re actually a lot better about it than we are. They’re ready for a change. Even before the (Castro-led) revolution, they liked the United States. I’ve never been spoken to with ill feelings. I think they know more about us than we know about them.

“What they see are just governments in the way. Almost any Cuban I’ve talked to wants relations between the two countries normalized.”

Cooper believes the fastest way to affect change in Cuba is for the country to be opened up to American tourism, something in the hands of the U.S. government. That is not likely a priority, however, at least until the economic conditions here improve.

“I was down there when our economy started collapsing, and they were amazed,” he said. “Many wondered how can people in the most powerful country lose their homes.”

Cooper noted, “There’s so much beauty in Cuba to be seen. They have a high literacy rate because they allow people to get higher degrees. They are a group of survivors, solid behind their families and a smart people.”

Though he is well-known for mostly landscape photos, this showing is different than Cooper’s other works because many contain people captured in the moment.

“I’m not a travelogue photographer,” he said. “I’m more an artist who deals with feelings. I think it is the best work I have ever done.”

Cooper is currently an artist-in-residence at the University of Alabama. He was the director of photography for 33 years, then decided to become a full-time professor in the honors college.

His work has been featured in various publications, including newspapers, magazines and four photography books.

Reservations for the lecture are recommended, and can be made by calling (251) 928-8133, or by e-mailing usabc@usouthal.edu.

Following the lecture, Patina Gallery will host a reception for lecture participants at 19 N. Church St. in Fairhope.