Argentina Post #1 - Buenos Aires

Floralis Generalis, a sculpture by Eduardo Catalano in Buenas Aires.

We're about halfway through our trip to Argentina, and it's been absolutely incredible. I was hoping to have posted more frequently, but internet access has been sporadic at best.

A tower in La Recoleta Cemetery.

I'll keep the post fairly brief but I'm including quite a number of photos to give an idea of what we've seen so far. This trip is a celebration of my father's 70th birthday, and needless to say, he's set a pretty high standard for birthday parties. Along with Julia and myself, the trip consists of a number of my parents' friends from various points throughout their lives. Truly a wonderful conglomeration of people.

Part 1 - Buenas Aires

Julia and I arrived a day after my parents in Buenas Aires. We stayed at a nice hotel called Hotel Casasur. On the first afternoon, Julia and I went to La Recoleta, which is a beautiful cemetery with individual mausoleums for each family. Each one was unique and many had beautiful stone carvings and statues.

We went out to nice meal that evening at an Italian restaurant. We had the best octopus that we've ever had and learned that Argentine portions are huge.

The next morning we took a walking tour to the Malba Museum. Along the way we passed the beautiful flower sculpture entitled Floralis Generica, which (when functional) opens during the day and closes at night.

Interesting shadows give the impression of a city skyline in La Recoleta Cemetery.

There's nothing like spider webs to convey a sense of time passing. On this mausoleum a cherub stands watch over a family's resting place in La Recoleta Cemetery.

More interesting statues adorn the mausoleums of the passed in La Recoleta Cemetery.

More than the remains of ancestors call La Recoleta their home, as this bird can attest.

One of the most striking characteristics of the La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenas Aires is that it is juxtaposed against a modern cityscape.

This was the late evening view from the balcony at the Hotel Casasur in Buenas Aires.

I love images that make you question what you are looking at. Here, a storefront window reflects a tree along the streets of Buenas Aires.

The Malba Museum is one of the premier museums showcasing Latin American art with pieces by Diego Rivero and Frida Callo, among others. Addtionally, there was a very engaging show by a photographer named Carlos Munoz. That along with the incredible photographs that portray a man getting blown back with bullet holes in the glass by Oscar Bony really made me think about my own photography. Instead of viewing the end result as a printed photo, these artists use both the process of creation as well as the changes to the print printed and framed pieces as part of the art. I'm not doing a good job of explaining it, but regardless, they forced me to realize that there is no true beginning and end to a photographic creation. One can continue to work on the art after the photograph is completed, and the process of completing the photograph is art in and of itself.

I was also fortunate enough to meet up with Dartmouth students who were in Argentina on an LSA (Language Study Abroad) led by professor Julio Ariza. They were given a personalized tour of the permanent collection and I tagged along for a little bit.

A group of Dartmouth students get a personalized tour of the Malba Museum in Buenas Aires. Here they are learning about a piece by Diego Rivera.

The La Boca district of Buenas Aires is full of colorful buildings and colorful people, both real and fake.

I noticed this streetlight in the canopy during our walk through a nice neighborhood in the Palermo district near the Malba Museum.

Buenas Aires has many different neighborhoods, and even small conclaves within each neighborhood. One of these is La Boca, which I believe was a poorer neighborhood and now is a tourist hub. There are tango dancers in the street, brightly colored buildings and street vendors of all sorts. Julia and I took a taxi there, hung out for about an hour, then went over to another neighborhood called Palermo Soho, which is the art neighborhood. There's a Palermo Freud (where all the psychiatrists are) and even an Armenian neighborhood which we did not get a chance to visit.

We had a nice dinner in Palermo Soho and then went back to the hotel. The next morning we began our epic journey to Bahia Bustamante. First a shuttle to the Buenas Aires domestic airport, then a plane to Comodoro Rivadavia and finally a two and a half hour drive north through the desert to Bahia Bustamante.

Sometimes the simplest images are the most engaging.

These buildings are a good representation of the colors you will find in the La Boca district of Buenas Aires.

Veer slightly off the beaten path, and you will often find subjects for great imagery. I especially love shooting during the evening when both natural and artificial light are visible, such as in this shot in the Palermo Soho district of Buenas Aires.

Here is the the first iteration of our group, down here in Argentina to celebrate my father's 70th birthday. (My dad is standing next to me, third from the right.)

My mom and Julia look back as we get on the plane to head to Patagonia. I miss entering planes from an outside stair such as this.