Last May, island husband-and-wife duo, photographer Ray Pfortner and designer Nancy Wing, led a WTE, Inc. photography tour to Cuba. Beginning Friday and running for the month of July, an exhibition of the colorful city and countryside images taken on the tour — many shot from behind-the-typical-tourist-scene-locations — will cover the walls of The Hardware Store Restaurant.

This is the second tour — the first was to China last year — that Pfortner and Wing have led through WTE, Inc., which specializes in professional and cultural exchanges. Islander and CEO of the company, Jitka Wong, said WTE, Inc. customizes each tour for its clients. She said she spoke with Pfortner and Wing early on in the planning stage to learn what they envisioned.

“I asked what type of artist they wanted to meet, what was their interest, so we could support the exchange for more in-depth conversations with people — not only artists, but others, too, so they could see what life is like in the country,” Wong said.

Wing and Pfortner were so taken with the open and friendly people, the ornate but decaying buildings, the classic cars and ubiquitous music of Cuba that they plan to return with another group in December. Despite how much Pfortner and Wing enjoyed the trip to China, Pfortner said that Cuba “has almost eclipsed China for us. Cuba is such an exciting place — it’s on a threshold there.”

Like the recent tour, participants on December’s tour will be limited to 14.

More information can be found at wte-usa.com/ photograph-cuba.