Meet Aldo from Rosario

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I met Aldo in Rosario at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MACRo). I knew from the beginning he would not accept that no attention is being paid to him. He seemed pretty easy going, so approaching me was a matter of seconds. He stared at me until I realized that I had to make the next step. I asked him, why a dog like him would loiter around a museum dedicated to modern art? He answered with his honest brown eyes that he wants to make new friends. As it turned out, he is overly attracted by contemporary art (lovers), so the MACRo seems to be the perfect spot for him to hang around.

• I'm reading: Meet Aldo from Rosario

Caught in the Act

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Have you ever been photographed while you were photographing? No? Well, I was. Just when I was about to take a picture of the gastronomic scenery along the Plaza Serrano (officially Plazoleta Cortázar) in Palermo Viejo, the girl in the blue jacket photographed me just like that. I never thought it would happen to me because usually it's me that strives through the streets of Buenos Aires snapping everything that's of interest. (; It caught me off guard, but it was fun.

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Edificio Alas in Downtown Buenos Aires

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This office building in Avenida Leandro N. Alem 719 perfectly reflects the architectural style of Early Modernism. Completed in 1950, it was the tallest building in Buenos Aires for almost 50 years. Legend has it that Juan Domingo Perón personally ordered to include a nuclear bunker in the building which he would use in case of war or a coup d'état. But de facto, he never did. Maybe the bunker is yet another urban myth because it doesn't exist nowadays. A bare fact is that in 2009 the Edificio Alas with its 141m (463ft) ranks 20th of the highest buildings in Buenos Aires. Actually, I liked the building on first sight for its futuristic and puristic looks. The Alas Tower could be, as it stands today, from the movie Metropolis or a dystopian fiction novel by George Orwell or Aldous Huxley.

• I'm reading: Edificio Alas in Downtown Buenos Aires

Female Physicality in the Postmodern Era

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This installation is an exhibit from Catharina Burman's exposition "Corpus". The exhibition showed various parchment paper bodies and photographs representing an intimate female world. The woman's body, its meaning and impression are recurring themes in her art work. Burman is a Colombian artist that currently lives and works in Buenos Aires. The installation has been exhibited in Bogotá at the University of Salamanca (2005) and in Buenos Aires at the Centro Cultural Borges (2008).

• I'm reading: Female Physicality in the Postmodern Era

Homeless in Buenos Aires

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Shameful enough, taking photos of homeless people is easy in Buenos Aires because they are so many. Their sheer number is scary and growing relentlessly. Even middle class people are highly threatened with pauperization and homelessness. While only two out of ten Argentinean families are able to put money aside, the rest of the society is living from hand to mouth. Why is all this happening? Well, besides the obvious reasons like the crony economy, huge foreign debts, and four currency reforms within 40 years, it is happening because we don't care enough. We just hope that we will never ever find ourselves in such a dead-end situation. But isn't this like closing the eyes to the reality around us? Isn't homelessness a crime committed by our society against their weakest and poorest? Homelessness is not the problem; it is a symptom of an uncivilized world.

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Being a Street Vendor in Buenos Aires

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I guess street vending is rather a stopgap solution than a plum job. You don't need particular skills or education, what you do need is a convincing smile and vendibles. This sounds pretty easy but I bet there are many obstacles and a lot of hard work involved in selling goods on the streets. It's utterly amazing to see how many street vendors populate the city of Buenos Aires. There is probably nothing you can buy for money that you won't find at their stands. The whole city seems to be one big bazaar. This guy is specialized in selling winter clothing items such as caps, gloves, scarves etc. He definitely needs to change his assortment now cause the time for this stuff is up. Hooray!

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Puerto Madero View Northwards

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The picture offers you a view straight into the second of four docks of Puerto Madero. You are looking northwards to Buenos Aires' city center. In the distance you may recognize the Puente de la Mujer (woman's bridge) but only if your sight is good.
I can't help it but the district of Puerto Madero appears to me like the sleeping beauty in the fairy tale that has not been awoken yet. You rarely see people on the streets and the few you see are mostly tourists. I guess renovation is not enough to create a vibrant new neighborhood. What this area really needs is a good mix of locals, newcomers and last but not least a handful creatively diverse people.

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Foxy Stencils for a Quicker Kitchen

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Wow, amazing how time flies! Buenos Aires Perception turns 6 month today. To celebrate this event, I thought it would be a great idea to cook something quickly. Hope you are hungry. Well, if you ever want to utilize a pressure cooker by yourself just follow the instructions given in the stencil on the door.

1. Choose a recipe from the pressure cooker cookbook of your choice.
2. Specify cooking method and cooking time.
3. Pour required amount of liquid into the pressure cooker.
4. Add the food. Use the cooking rack, if desired.
5. Make sure the vent pipe is open and unclogged.
6. Cook for the length of time specified in step 2.
7. Reduce pressure by opening the air vent. Watch out for steam that will escape. Make sure the pressure is completely down. Only then open the pressure cooker carefully!
8. Voila! Serve the food and enjoy your meal.

• I'm reading: Foxy Stencils for a Quicker Kitchen

Buenos Aires, City of Sidewalk Potholes

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Isn't the main purpose of sidewalks to provide pedestrians with a certain kind of safety by keeping them off the roads and out of danger? But how safe is it to stroll over cracked tiles during your afternoon walk? Obviously, there are lots of opportunities in Buenos Aires to break your legs, ankles or worse. Many of the cracked sidewalks and broken curbs were patched recently but I guess you will need several more stimulus packages to fix all of them. Be the potholes on the sidewalks ever so bad, the streets seem to be in a better condition. At least in the city center the main streets are fine. You lucky car drivers!

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Spooky Black Granite Mausoleum in Recoleta

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No, this is not the haunted sanctuary of the heinous blood-sucking vampire; at least I couldn't find his initials. Plus, the commemorative plaque tells us otherwise. Neither is it a very realistic premature Halloween decoration. It is yet another deserted tomb at the Recoleta cemetery. It seems like there is no family member left or willing to tend the grave or the family lost all its money and importance. Anyway, I guess Count Dracula would love this creepy place. It is kind of spooky with all the spider webs on the entrance. Obviously this door has not been used for a very long time.

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Buenos Aires est pacata!

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This revelation might be a shock, but I must inform you that pigeons have occupied Buenos Aires. That's why I needed some time off. Defending the city kept me busy and opposing pigeons is quite exhausting. I have to admit that all fighting was in vain: after the intruders have successfully conquered the Plaza de Mayo, they continued their invasion at Parque del Centenario in the Caballito neighborhood. This time it might be just a boring monument, but who knows their real agenda. I think they are aiming to take over the world. What for? Who knows?

• I'm reading: Buenos Aires est pacata!

Cine Sí - Mainstream No

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This unobtrusive backlit sign indicates the location of a specialty shop of supreme interest for movie fanatics, cine-lovers and those who live to the cinema. Cine Sí is a store in San Telmo that is completely dedicated to cinema and visual arts. It has a highly specialized non-standard variety of international and local movies, magazines, books and other printed material. The movie selection available to buy and rent is rather limited but assorted with love and enthusiasm by a team of young people. They even rent equipment for film-making and photography.

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Time Travelling to Buenos Aires’ Past

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I was time travelling last night. Of course, I didn't forget my fancy gadget from the present, my photographicator electronicus, so I could take some pictures. And I did. On my way back to the future, however, all color pixels were set to zero. I can't understand how this could happen. Probably I was travelling too fast. But I was not completely out of luck: I could save the black and white pixels. In hindsight, I think this adds atmosphere and a nice kind of 'artsy' appeal to the image.
To tell the truth, the picture was part of an exhibition about the Amigos del Arte that I saw at the MALBA. It shows the Florida road roughly around the 1920s. In that time the society of art lovers resided at this exclusive address.
If you had a chance to time travel, where would you go and why?

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Eat more Fruit and Veggies

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This is what I call a scrumptious eye catcher. I stumbled upon this extraordinary fruit display in Avenida Almirante Brown, down in La Boca. Well, the store was far from being perfect and the variety of fruit and veggies was not too overwhelming but the particular presentation made it an amazing store. I really like the way they stapled the fruit as pyramids on top of these baskets. It adds to the appeal of the ripe fruits and entices customers like me. Compared to other neighborhoods, fruit vendors in La Boca seem to have a lot more space to present their fresh produce.
Anyway, eat more fruit and veggies! (:

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A Portrait of a Gentleman and his Parrot

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What might this gentleman be thinking? I found him and his little buddy contemplating the mysteries of the universe on their balcony. With the parrot on his shoulder he reminded me of Long John Silver watching out for Treasure Island. He had this look of deep knowing on his face that his feathered soul mate was sincere and absolutely "down-to-earth" and wouldn't fly away. I guess they were people watching and someone down the street caught their eye.

• I'm reading: A Portrait of a Gentleman and his Parrot

Buenos Aires Concrete

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Concrete, like everything else, depends on what you make of it. Looking at it objectively, concrete is a compound of cement, water and diverse aggregates. But concrete is more, it is the very material from which our cityscapes are formed. People, however, make a city thrive, not bricks and mortar. A city is an interaction of thousands of social and cultural elements and concrete is its body. As an inevitable fact in today's living reality, concrete is tangible, visible, unavoidable, often repellant but a hard to ignore partner.

Thanks again to the guys from LandingPadBA.com. I took the picture from the rooftop of Jed's apartment building.

• I'm reading: Buenos Aires Concrete

Welcome to Puerto Iguazú, Argentina

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Anyone for a trip over the weekend? Well, Puerto Iguazú might be too far from Buenos Aires for just a weekend especially for those going by bus. Nonetheless, the sleepy village at the north end of Argentina is one of the top destinations in South America. From here you can easily explore the Iguazú Falls and discover every single one of the roughly 270 individual falls. You rather not plan too much for one day, as there is plenty to dig into. And trust me, natural beauty tires you out. Un sólo día no alcanza, and neither does a weekend.

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The Simpsons in Buenos Aires

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Who do you think is the best-known U.S. citizen in Argentina? I bet many are keen on this title but there can be only one! Let me give you some hints to help you guess. The figure we're looking for is really famous for many things, but in particular, for his unintentional comedy. He likes to exclaim "Doh!" whenever he discovers an error. He's omnipresent on TV and well-known for his laziness and his love of beer and donuts. He tends to panic and yells at the first sign of any crisis, "Ahh! We're all gonna die! Run!" He is married to a blue-haired wife of French descendant with whom he has three kids. He lives in a city with one of the most common place names where he works at the local nuclear power plant. Well, if you haven't guessed it already, you are definitely surfing on another planet!
No doubt, Homer Simpson is the best-known all-American figure in Argentina.

• I'm reading: The Simpsons in Buenos Aires

Open Wounds That Would Not Fade

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It's been a while since I've seen Ausencias (Absences), a sadly beautiful photo exhibition at the Centro Cultural Recoleta. The pictures of Gustavo Germano were touching, telling and full of tender melancholy. He is visualizing the everlasting absence of family members and friends that disappeared during the Argentine military dictatorship. In his portraits he reestablishes the situation of old family pictures and snapshots. The gaps generated by the desaparecidos outline the open wounds. Thereby he created an unique before and after gallery. The picture above is showing Gustavo Germano and his brothers then and now.
I certainly would recommend a visit to Gustavo's blog and his official website.

• I'm reading: Open Wounds That Would Not Fade

Massive Outdoor Advertising

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Advertising is like alcohol. Ironically, the more you consume, the less you remember. Ads are not necessarily a bad thing, neither is alcohol when consumed appropriately. The wall in the picture, though, serves as a perfect example of an advertising overkill in public areas. You may say that you know what it is like or you've seen worse. And you are right. In fact, we get randomly bombarded with ads all around the clock. Why? Simply because they are increasingly less and less effective.
Beyond sharing the same first letter, alcohol and advertising have another even more important similarity: We get used to it too fast!

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Dock Worker Protest

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This is evidentially another shot from the demonstration against resolution 041. Some of you may remember my post in June about the 'disobedient' rebels. The dock workers were campaigning for the restitution of their pension rights. The government is facing a classical dilemma here. In search of ways to save money, Argentina is urged to cut government spending. Often the cutbacks result in reduced social security benefits.
So, this is how the 'structural adjustment program' reduces poverty?

• I'm reading: Dock Worker Protest

Trouble Under the Hood

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This cargo van was left unattended like that, perfectly parked along the curb with the hood open. I have no idea why the driver left his car like this. Maybe he had some overheating issues and wanted to aid cooling. Maybe he left his truck alone to get some gas or he just went away to get some help with car troubleshooting. Maybe it's a bit of everything, maybe not. Anyway, it's quite common to see old and wrecked cars running in the street of Buenos Aires.

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Good Morning Buenos Aires

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Like a ruby sparkling in the morning sun touched by a soft glow of winter light. It was the dawn of a new day, the awakening of a wonderful city. After every night follows a bright day, ready-made to conquer, to enjoy, to fill with meaning. Vivid light was inevitably pouring through the streets and over the rooftops. I couldn't get enough of this delightful spectacle. Me and my camera were desperately busy snapping the fleeing beauty into our memory. The mood was magic. Good morning beautiful!

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Night is for Nightlife

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... for sleeping or for hunting. Luckily enough, it's Saturday night, so let's get some fun! The term "the city that never sleeps" does perfectly apply to Buenos Aires, as perhaps for any other metropolis as well. There's a wide variety of clubs and bars you can choose from to experience the city's nightlife. Parties usually don't start before 2 am, so don't arrive too early.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of the City Daily Photo Community and see their interpretation of the August theme day: Night.

• I'm reading: Night is for Nightlife