Ira Block, a world-renowned photojournalist, spoke at the Binghamton University Art Museum on Thursday evening to discuss his new photo series, “Baseball in Cuba: A Photographic Essay by Ira Block.”

Block has worked for National Geographic for over 30 years, photographing people and places all over the world in countries like Mongolia, Iceland, Myanmar and Morocco.

The photography series, which is currently on display at the museum, consists of multiple shots of the different aspects of the culture of baseball in Cuba from children playing in the street with homemade baseballs to fans watching a local baseball game in the stands.

Block plans to create a book of these photos and said that he wants to represent how much baseball is permeated in Cuban culture — the country’s national sport — and Block said that it’s something that everyone can relate to because of its popularity.

“I didn’t want this to be a book about sports,” Block said. “I wanted it to be more about culture through a sport, and the world of the professional players is a totally different story. This is more about the history and the culture.”

Block’s first trip to Cuba was in 1997 on an assignment for National Geographic and since then he has taken several more trips. Block discussed how baseball in the Dominican Republic has been commercialized with a number of professional leagues and United States Major League Baseball academies that scout Dominican baseball players.

“I wanted to document this part of Cuba before it changed,” Block said. “It’s going to change when the U.S. comes in; Baseball is going to get more commercial, it’s going to become more of a business, but right now it’s still a pure sport.”

Gary Kunis, ’73, has donated more than $1.6 million to BU since 1999 and is on the board of BU’s Center for Advanced Microelectronic Manufacturing along with Block. Kunis helped fund Block’s trips to Cuba over the last few years and connected the photographer with Diane Butler, the director of the University Art Museum.

Butler said that she decided to put Block’s photographic essay on display at the University because it may evoke the interest of a broader audience than previous exhibits have in the past.

“I like to do exhibitions that are addressing different constituencies,” Butler said. “I really hope people across the University and community feel very welcomed here, so I try to do exhibitions that will appeal to certain people at different times.”

Casey Staff, a video producer for the University, said that she went to hear Block speak because she wanted to look at and learn about photography in a way that she might not be familiar with.

“I kind of wanted to come and see a different side of photography that I’m not used to seeing, especially the contrast of baseball in Cuba,” Staff said. “How it’s different from American baseball assuming that, because there was an exhibit, there would be some big differences.”

Block said that this photographic essay stems from the experiences he made throughout his years of travels.

“Over all these years I’ve made a lot of friends, I’ve had a very rich life, I’ve traveled, I’ve met people and I’ve seen things that have been incredible,” Block said. “Baseball to me, and this project, is a result of all my experience and learning the last 35 years.”