Stepping inside is often a taxonomical gesture. Robert van der Hilst photographed the streets for years before moving into the inner confines of his subjects. This body of work, taken between 1986 and 2001, reveals the personal tableaux hidden in Havana, Calle Ocho, or beyond the decorative arches of Coral Gables. Much more than simple portraits of a group of people and their belongings, this series sets up the relationship between in and out. How is one to define themselves? By costume, by possession? By stepping inside the homes of these people, van der Hilst acknowledges all that is outside. This is the reverse of normal portraiture –rubbing the surface raw until it exposes some depth. These relate to Lacan’s concept of the mirror stage. The ego is the result of identifying with one’s image. Or, more simply, the subject happens upon the divide between inside and outside, then gains strength from the relationship to the two. And who better to illustrate this than Miami’s Cubans, many of whom still wrestling with what it means to be en exilio. Inside, outside, at the same time.