Thomas Locke Hobbs
| Currently: Buenos Aires |
Calle Lanin
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| Calle Lanin in Barracas is kind of like a bizarro version of the Caminito in La Boca. The mosaic murals were the idea of artist Marino Santa Maria and have been up since 2001. Here's the artist's website and also here's another page with many more photos of the street. |
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| Fruteria on the corner of Billinghurst and Mansilla
Talk about a special pineapple! The straw that outlines the shape of this fruta elegida reminds me of a shimmering believer from some El Greco painting. |
La Rural
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| Buenos Aires biggest exhibit space is called La Rural and every July the place fills up with livestock and tractors for the massive La Exhibicion Rural. It has a bit of a county fair element but with an upscale, porteño feel. |
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| The rest of the year the exhibition space is used for conventions and I've been there a number of times for other events. It was odd to see the big hall filled with cattle--fat, attractive, yummy looking cattle. |
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| There's an outdoor area where horses and cattle are trotted out for judging. Vagner said it was like going to the zoo but with only two types of animals |
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| The preppy, upscale crowd attending the fair is 50% gaucho and 50% Ralph Lauren. |
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| In another exhibition hall are where all the big agro-businesses have stands promoting seeds, harvesters, tractors, bull inseminators, antibiotics, etc. All the usual stuff. |
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| Jesse Archer at Gay Pride 2003, New York City
Taking a quick break from Buenos Aires. When I was in the US recently I picked up a bunch of DVD's with scans of some of my old film negatives. Included in this bunch were photos from Gay Pride 2003, the first year I followed Jesse and his gang of friends in the Parade. I'm happy now that this year, perhaps the most colorful, is now well-represented. Here's the complete set on Flickr [and also check out 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008, in 2005 I was in Sao Paulo] And I would be remiss not to link to Jesse's fantastic blog, Jesse on the Brink |
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| Buenos Aires' own little mini-Dubai in Puerto Madero. Construction is still going crazy in this zone but I have to think crashing prices in Miami negatively affect the developments here. They're both essentially chasing the same slice of rich Argentines for whom a little condo in North Miami Beach has gotten a lot cheaper. [In fact, the stock of IRSA, one of Puerto Madero's original developers and owner of many shopping malls here is down over 50% from it's 2007 peak.] |
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| I've always liked the cushy seats on Line B of the subte. I waited until the last stop so I could get this photo of the train car without any people. Well, almost. That woman at the end on the left just kept sitting there. I think she was just spending her Sunday sitting somewhere comfortable. I don't blame her. |
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| Car's Shop on Avenida Warnes
One afternoon trying to get to Belgrano I took the wrong bus and went past this stretch of auto parts stores on Avenida Warnes and was struck by their bright colors and over-sized graphics. I returned on a quiet, cloudy Sunday morning when all was closed and I could photograph in peace. I particularly liked this store's facade. For me the triple repetition of the logo recalls the pyramidal composition of Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks as well as subtly following the contour of the roof. And hey, when your logo is a baby chick, why not repeat it three times? |
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| I seem to be on a yellow kick lately. I was struck by the graffiti, "Soy Puto, Soy de Racing" Translation: "I'm a faggot, I'm a fan of Racing" [A local soccer team]. I assume this was written by a fan of a rival team rather than some queer liberation minded football fan wishing to claim a place at the bleachers. Still, it's quite a cognitive leap to imagine yourself as a fan of your biggest rival and gay and paint those thoughts on a wall.
Update: The graffiti-ist was likely a fan of Racing rival Independiente, both teams from the gritty suburb of Avellaneda. |
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 | Hi. I'm a 32 year-old American currently living in Buenos Aires. Before that I lived in California, Sao Paulo and New York and if you browse through the archives below you can see photos of all those places. I also have an old geocities page with some outdated information but also more photos of Buenos Aires, friends and my 9/11 pictures. |