numbers, light, and the messy magic of buenos aires
i've been carrying these two numbers around for a month-34.35024, 58.2030395-scribbled on a napkin from some bar in palermo. they look like coordinates, but i’m no cartographer. being a freelance photographer means you chase whispers: a guy at a camera store said, 'there’s a shot in the delta that’ll make your portfolio sing.' i followed. now i’m standing on a rusty dock at the edge of tigre, humidity clinging like a second skin. i just checked the weather app and it’s...exactly the numbers they gave me: 24.78°C, feels like 25.09, humidity 68, pressure 1016. it’s that thick, heavy air that makes your viewfinder fog up the second you lift it to your eye. hope you like that kind of thing.
i spent the morning hiking through the delta, trying to decode the numbers. was it latitude and longitude? i plugged them into my gps and got a point near a abandoned ferry terminal. when i arrived, i found not just a location but a whole vibe: peeling paint, a broken clock face, and a giant willow tree that’s been there longer than anyone remembers. the light was flat but with these incredible clouds rolling off the water. i set up my tripod and waited for the golden hour-only to realize the sun was already past its prime. still, i shot like crazy. sometimes you just have to capture what’s there, not what you wanted.
i’ll be honest, i’m not even sure i developed the film yet. but the act of being here, of feeling lost and found at the same time, that’s the real photo. buenos aires has a way of turning every mistake into a story. someone told me that the best empanadas are at a hole-in-the-wall called lo de juan in san telmo. i never found it, but i did stumble into a milonga where an old man whispered that the city’s secret is its “café tortoni” and to avoid the tourist traps on florida street. i looked it up later on Yelp’s top coffee spots, but by then i was too tired to care.
if you get bored, montevideo is just a short ferry ride across the river. i’ve never been, but i’ve heard the streets are narrower, the coffee stronger. maybe next time.
here’s the map of the general area i was roaming. i’m not great with google maps, so i embedded the one my friend sent me who knows the delta like the back of his hand:
that blue blob is where i think i was. maybe i should have bought a proper gps instead of trusting a napkin.
the images below are from unsplash-they have nothing to do with the delta exactly, but they capture the mood: the vastness, the texture, the unexpected geometry. i shot my own, but these are what i found when i typed argentina into the search engine.
look at that second one-looks like a conveyor belt of yarn? i have no idea what that’s about, but it’s weirdly comforting. maybe i’m just tired.
i’ve been in buenos aires for three weeks now, shooting everything from the opulent tombstones in recoleta to the graffiti in barracas. i post some of the good ones on my instagram, but the truth is, i’m mostly here because i got a cheap flight and an email from a client who never paid. so i’m living on instant coffee and cheap pizza, trying to make the most of the weather-24 degrees celsius, feels like 25, humidity 68-perfect for staying inside if you’re not careful, but outside if you want to sweat through your shirt and get that hazy look in your photos. i love it. TripAdvisor’s guide to BA’s offbeat locations actually mentions the delta, but they call it 'a peaceful escape'-peaceful my ass, it's mosquito city.
i read on a local forum (some dusty old site called 'foro buenos aires') that the numbers 3435024 and 1032030395 might be an old bus route and a phone number of a guy who sells vintage lenses. i called the number; it was disconnected. but the bus route actually exists-the 343 goes to the airport. i took it once and got lost. that’s how i found the delta. Here’s the forum thread if you want to dig through decades of gossip.
the moral? maybe there isn’t one. i’ll leave you with this: check the weather here before you come. it’s a beast. and if you see a photographer squinting at a napkin, ask him what he’s looking for. he might just be trying to turn random numbers into a map.
You might also be interested in:
- https://votoris.com/post/porto-alegre-nights-where-to-drink-dance-and-not-get-robbed
- https://votoris.com/post/is-st-louis-petfriendly-best-parks-and-vet-services
- https://votoris.com/post/vintage-finds-and-misty-mornings-in-mystic-vale
- https://votoris.com/post/spray-paint-and-salt-air-finding-georgetowns-hidden-walls
- https://votoris.com/post/the-nightlife-scene-in-mushin-best-bars-and-safe-zones-dont-trust-the-maps