“La Paloma y La Ley” selected for TIME Magazine’s
Best Photo Books of 2019

“La paloma y la ley” (The Dove and the Law) follows two women, Marta and Liset, who left Cuba in May 2016 with no plan, just the name of a coyote—a human smuggler— scribbled on a piece of paper, and a dream to make it to the US. They hoped to arrive before the imminent end of “wet foot, dry foot,” a policy that fast-tracked Cubans to asylum and permanent residency. Lisette Poole followed along on 51 days of this journey through 13 countries, across 10 borders and 6 days in the Darien Gap—a roadless stretch of jungle between Colombia and Panama. She posed as a migrant and photographed on several formats including a smartphone, 35mm film and a GoPro. 

The book is part travel journal, part photo essay, and wholly unique. It feels both lived-in and entirely fresh. The field notes double as poetry; the drama is real life.

— karl vick

PRESENTATIONS:

CURRENT:
SS Galerie, Mexico City, Art Week, CDMX, 2024

PAST:
Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, October 2023
Habib University, Intro to New Media lecture, Karachi, Pakistan
The Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami, U.S.A.
The New School, Visual Documentary Practice Lecture, New York
Americas Society/ Council of the Americas: NYC, Washington D.C. & Miami
Pop-Up Magazine, “The Escape Issue” U.S.A. Tour, NYC, San Francisco, Oakland, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Visa Pour L’image Photography Festival, Book Signing, Perpignan, France
Retro Report, Book Launch and Presentation, New York
Internazionale a Ferrara, Co-Presenter, Ferrara, Italy
Annenberg Space for Photography, Disapora Lecture, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Festival Gabriel García Marquéz, Presentation, Medellín, Colombia
The Royal Holloway Picture Gallery, Collective Exhibition, London, U.K.
Open Show NYC, Bronx Documentary Center, U.S.A.

AVAILABLE AT:

Books & Books, Coral Gables & Coconut Grove, Miami, U.S.A.

Hydra + Fotografía, Roma Norte, Mexico City, Mexico

notable acquisitions:

Rubenstien Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University
Harvard University Library, U.S.A.
Monash University, Australia
The Cuban Heritage Collection at Miami University
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Texas
University of Miami Richter Library at Miami University
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of California, Berkeley

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