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People of Buenos Aires – Street Photography

“Everybody is so rushed compared to Santiago!” I complained to Feng. “It’s like… it’s like I don’t speak fast enough, don’t have my money ready fast enough, don’t get it fast enough!”

I didn’t chitchat with anyone in Buenos Aires. While in Antofagasta, Valparaíso and Santiago, many people were curious to know where we were from or just felt like talking about the weather or politics, Porteños were straight to the point—tell me what you want, give money now, and please, have some change ready, there ain’t none in the till. There was no small talk while waiting for my empanadas to be warmed up and the only people initiating a conversation were the “cambio” guys on Florida and Lavalle—cambio, cambio, dollares, reais… cambio, cambio… Of course, I had no dollars to change on the black market, so no conversation was had.

I get it. There are tons of tourists in Buenos Aires and none of them are particularly exotic or interesting to the average Porteños. It’s all about business. I mean, when you get Brazilian tour groups shouting in Portuguese, apparently unaware of the fact Spanish is spoken in Argentina and that the hotel front desk has no idea what you’re talking about even if you’re very loud, you don’t feel like being friendly with dumb foreigners. But I missed these small interactions.

Feng likes it better here, though. He finds it easier precisely because Buenos Aires is used to catering to tourists. No one expects you to speak Spanish and “pollo” is helpfully labelled as “chikent” which just has to be “chicken.”

So I didn’t talk with people much, but I took pictures—eh, I’m a tourist, after all, right?

God-loving biker on Av. Córdoba
Platform shoes are popular (Avenida 9 de Julio)
Wanna ride this ambulance? (Avenida 9 de Julio)
Avenida 9 de Julio
Plaza Italia
Media waiting in front of the Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación Argentina, Talcahuano 550, 1013 Buenos Aires
Calle Lavalle
Calle Esmeralda
Avenida Corrientes
Kiosco on Lavalle
Avenida Corrientes
Waiting to cross at Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world
La Rey on Avenida Corrientes
Avenida Lavalle
Woman in yoga pose on Avenida de Julio
Waiting for a theatre show on Avenida Corrientes
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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