‘Felix runs a weekly class teaching the art of Japanese bondage in Havana. It was his idea to have Katy smoking a cigar. They’re part of a subculture most foreigners don’t know exists’

I became interested in Cuba 30 years ago and made numerous visits over the years, some of them photography related. I never showed any of that early work: the country has been photographed so much it was hard to find a new voice. But a few years ago, I started seeing things I’d not seen before – subcultures that most foreigners don’t even know exist.

The perception of Cuba – mostly because of the communist regime – is that it’s very normative. I remember being told that it was illegal in some Soviet countries to listen to rock’n’roll or wear jeans. Foreigners think that in Cuba there’s no personal expression and that everything is bland and uniform. And it’s not true.