It's amazing what one can do with a great camera (Canon 5D Mark 2), a pocket dolly, and some mood music. It's been a while since the quake shook Haiti, but this piece snaps all the devastation and heartache into stunning clarity.
Haiti Earthquake Aftermath Montage from Khalid Mohtaseb on Vimeo.
A lot of this going on in Buenos Aires today. Some cold chilling in the city’s public spaces. Lots of dogs. A few day beers. Bathing in the sun. etc.
People say Buenos Aires is the Paris of South America. I’m staying in a hip little up-and-came neighborhood called Palermo Hollywood, but it seems more like Palermo Williamsburg. It’s next to Palmero SOHO, so there’s that aspect too.
There are some big avenues here, 12 lanes wide. J-Walking is like forging a major river. You don’t actually know if you’ll make it.
Maybe these big avenues make it more Parisian, but the food – pizza and pasta – is way more Italian. This is a town with a lot of influences. For that reason, maybe it’s only safe to compare it to NYC. But eff that, nothing compares to NYC. Don’t even try it!
Today, I went to a giant cemetery in Recoleta. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Just a city of of masuelouems, with endless corridors separating the dead. A lot of the tombs are falling into disrepair. Some have windows into the little rooms, with caskets and urns. Some have wilted flowers on the tombs. Tourists stroll the alleys casually pointing at all the ostentatious graves. It’s a good time.
I tried to find a better vantage point for shooting this place but failed. I’m going to go back and see if I can get a bird’s eye shot, that’s really the only way to grasp the size of this place. It’s huge.
There are a lot of beautiful dogs in this city. I’m officially starting a project. Los Peros de Buenos Aires. Coming to an art gallery near you soon.
Then there was this. No idea where Pilar is, but I’m certainly going to start looking.
;)
Gastronomic Tip: Pepsi in a bottle is legit.
They use mothballs for urinal pucks in this town. Smells great, and splash back is minimal too!
Argentina has 220v power, unlike the US, which runs 110v. (Don't ask me about watts).
So I went to get a power converter and ran into some real heat from the guy at the hardware store, probably because my Espanol is so effing muy malo. He was real cold right until I handed him my white PowerBook chord and he read "Designed by Apple in California."
"Schwarzengger?" He smiled.
"Si, es un Governator," I said.
"I once saw Phil Collins at how you say 'Candle Stick Park,'" he said. "In San Francisco."
"Cool."
"Is nice there."
"Si, si it is."
Bet it was a sick show.
Sidenote: Put 'Easy Lover' on your iPod right now. You never know when it will come in handy.
John Peabody