Argentina 2004—2005

The premise

I went to Argentina to become a photographer. The country changed the frame.

These photographs trace a year lived through school corridors, borrowed rooms, anthropology lectures, long-distance buses, rehearsals and chance invitations. They are less a record of places visited than of people who made distance feel like belonging.

ARCHIVE NOTE / 01

“I’m an exchange student from Estonia, living in Argentina.”

Email, December 2004

THE ROUTE

Paraná
Buenos Aires
Salta
Jujuy
Tacna
Lima
Arica
Atacama
Uyuni
Cachi

01 / ARRIVAL

Learning to
say here.

Paraná, Entre RíosSeptember 2004

From Estonia to the banks of the Paraná: a school year in a language I was still assembling one conversation at a time. Paraná was the first anchor. Buenos Aires, Chile and southern Brazil became the early departures—and Argentina the place I kept returning to.

Wide view over the rooftops of Paraná, Entre Ríos — Paraná, Entre Ríos · the first horizon

Students gathered in a classroom during the exchange year — A classroom, a new language, a life beginning to widen

THEN / NOW

I had arrived for school. What stayed with me was everything that happened between lessons: buses, kitchens, music, friends, and learning that a place becomes yours slowly, through ordinary days.

02 / NORTHBOUND

Closer to
the mountains.

In early 2005 I moved north, rented a place near the Universidad Nacional de Salta, and enrolled in first-year anthropology.

Two young artisans smiling at an evening market in San Salvador de Jujuy — San Salvador de Jujuy · March 18, 2005

An older craft seller sitting among clay pottery at night — Night market, Jujuy

Portrait of Sebastián Farfor at night in Jujuy — Sebastián Farfor

“
Me gusta mucho aquí.
An email from Salta, April 2005

TUMBAYA / 19.03.05

The landscape had its own scale.

The north made the country feel older, drier, more vertical. I was drawn toward Indigenous cultures and regional histories—the subjects I was trying to understand at university, now present beyond the classroom.

A drummer walks through a high-altitude gathering near Tumbaya — Music in the quebrada

Four uniformed men stand beside a vehicle against steep mountains — Tumbaya · the road north

A young woman laughing during a gathering in Salta — Salta · between lectures

Close portrait of a young woman in Salta — A face from the Salta archive

03 / THE INVITATION

“No hay
problema.”

On a dry, bright day in the Lerma Valley, I ran into my anthropology classmate Roberto Lazo. He taught dance and shared my interest in the region’s cultures. On a street corner, he asked if I wanted to travel to Peru with his group.

I wanted to go. I also had no money and rent still to pay. Roberto kept smiling: no hay problema. A few mornings later, before sunrise, I was searching the empty streets for a lit window. Roberto and Fernanda were inside packing.

Members of Los Danzares waiting at the Argentina–Chile border — At the Argentina–Chile border with Los Danzares · May 10, 2005

PROVISIONAL JOB TITLE

“European journalist”

The dancers were Roberto, Fernanda, Keka, Ariel, Diego, Gabriela and Cesar. I came along with a camera.

04 / IN MOTION

A continent
as a rehearsal room.

Three days of buses to Lima for the International Festival of Latin American Dances. The waiting became part of the performance.

TACNA / PERU

With half a day before the next connection, Ariel and Cesar played guitar while Diego and Gaby danced. People gathered. No stage was needed; an anonymous terminal became somewhere worth remembering.

Friends talking together on a bus in Lima — Arrival · Lima

Young musicians in white shirts march beside a blue bus in Lima — Festival procession

Latin American dance groups in colorful dress stand together at the festival — COPEPAFA · May 14

Four young dancers perform in pale blue dresses — Young dancers, Lima

Two dancers in bright embroidered clothing laugh together — The festival between performances

ARICA / CHILE

When the route changed, the dance continued.

Unrest in Bolivia redirected the group through Chile. In Arica, anthropologist and dance professor Manuel Mamani found us rooms at the university stadium. Rehearsal filled the borrowed space.

Two dancers practicing tango in a rehearsal hall in Arica — Tango practice · Arica

Three friends laughing outside after rehearsal in Arica — Victoria, Keka and Fernanda

A folkloric dance group performs in front of a crowd in Arica — One more dance before the road

05 / THE LONG WAY HOME

Desert, salt,
then Salta again.

The group returned to Argentina. I kept moving alone through San Pedro de Atacama and across the Salar de Uyuni, trusting the road to bring me back north.

A weathered thatched house in the Atacama landscape — San Pedro de Atacama · May 21

A blue four-wheel-drive vehicle crossing the Salar de Uyuni — With driver Roberto Morales · Salar de Uyuni

CACHI / SALTA / 29.06.05

The return was quieter.

Back in Salta, the camera slowed down: one street, one face, hands in a field, children moving across the mountainside. After the scale of the journey, attention returned to small things.