Cuba, Santa Clara, 1976. Building of the Nueva Trova of Cuba

This picture preserves a moment few cameras ever caught — Cuba, Santa Clara, 1976. Building of the Nueva Trova of Cuba. Made in 1976, it is the kind of image that turns a date in a history book into something you can actually see.

The 1970s had a grittier texture than the decades before it — economic shocks, urban decline, and political distrust, but also bold fashion, muscle cars, and the first stirrings of the digital age. Color film had become cheap and ubiquitous, so the decade survives in vivid Kodachrome hues.

Most photography of the period chased celebrities and headlines, which makes surviving images of daily routine all the more precious. This is what the world actually looked like when nobody thought it was worth remembering.