I applied for a press pass to visit the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in February 2008.

Seven months later, I was notified I’d been approved for a visit, one of the only journalists to visit the Joint Task Force portion of the base this year. JTF is the part of the base where detainees in the US’s War on Terror are being held.

I interviewed the naval base commander, the Joint Task Force commander, and other high officials, as well as civilian workers and one guard, Carlos Quinones, shown in this video. At the time I shot this footage, Quinones was just one week away from returning home after 11 months and 3 weeks at Guantanamo Bay:

A day at Guantanamo Bay; one guards perspective from Matador Network on Vimeo.

Words, when used right, can tranport you to places that you may not be able to visit yourself.

But when words are paired with images… well, it’s something else all together.

I believe that there are some places and experiences we can’t really understand without being there.

I hope that this video took you to Guantanamo Bay, even if for a few minutes.