Santiago Student Protest Aftermath

Yesterday, mostly due to the fact that the Student Protest was crazier than usual and therefor broken up quickly, I completely missed it. I had a prior obligation but thought I'd get to see the end of it, which is when all the rioting goes down and things really get exciting. But no. The crowds of over 100,000 were broken up fairly quickly apparently.

 I did however get to see the aftermath. The broken glass, the torn down street signs, the upset store owners whose businesses were destroyed and looted, and the rocks and debris filling the streets that were used as projectiles. It felt mildly like a warzone, but one where nobody even blinks at it because it is fairly standard. I personally don't understand the need for excessive violence during a protest, but I suppose it is more eventful to photograph than your average daily street life.

A large group of students forced the front gate open, smashed the windows and looted this pharmacy

A large frame for advertisements lies on the side of the street while clean up crews tend to all the broken glass and debris

Riot police stand on guard in case any protestors return

Waiting for the bus amongst the mess

This bus map has seen better days

Nobody even cares about walking through broken glass

This cell phone store, Claro, was completely destroyed and looted. The inside was almost entirely empty besides some overturned desks and shelves.

Since I got no photos of the action taking place you feel free to check out this site for some photos of the protest and riot. The second gallery has all the rioting photos. Protest photos

Santiago Student Protests

Chileans know how to protest. The excitement, energy and sheer strength of upwards of 50,000 driven individuals is captivating. The students in Chile, especially in Santiago, seem genuinely passionate about making their voices heard. As an outsider the issues are beyond my realm of true interest. I do hope they make progress in their fight for a new framework for education in Chile, but it obviously isn't something I'm emotionally invested in. For me it is an opportunity to experience and document the raw energy and unity that only a protest can evoke in complete strangers. Americans protest every once in a while, but never with a strength comparable to a classic Santiago student protest. There is another huge protest planned for today so I'm about to head over and check it out. Below are a few images from one last month. 

More photos to come from today's protest so check back!

Loving La Vega

There are few things in Latin culture I'm more drawn to than the markets. For many people most, if not all, of their food is purchased in local mercados. I happen to live a short walk from La Vega, which is one of the biggest mercados in Chile. It really is massive, made up of hundreds of vendors selling nearly everything edible you could ever want and expect to find in Chile.

Living in Santiago Centro with Bella Artes, Bellavista and Providencia in walking distance it is easy to forget what the rest of Chile is like. These neighborhoods are full of a smaller population of more modern, cosmopolitan and artsy Chileans. Fortunately all it takes is a 10 minute walk north, past Rio Mapocho to La Vega and the surrounding neighborhood of Patronato to get a glimpse of a more typical Chilean community. It is more gritty, colorful and full of the sketchy character that I am constantly drawn to. It is wildly different from where I grew up in NY to say the least. 

Sitting in the middle of it is La Vega which is certainly the center of life in this barrio. The streets are always packed with trucks, push-carts and mobile vendors transporting seemingly endless supplies of fresh produce. Sidewalks are packed with locals selling anything from used clothes to TV antenas and batteries. And of course pedestrians heading to and from the market are littered throughout the streets and sidewalks.

The first few times visiting La Vega was a little intimidating. I ended up walking around looking at everything for nearly an hour before even purchasing anything. After a couple months of weekly trips I am getting pretty efficient. I can be in and out in twenty minutes and know which vendors have the best and cheapest selections. And cheap it is. Every single time I walk away from this place I have a smile ear to ear and feel as if I just happened to hit a 75% off everything sale. But no, this place is cheap all day, everyday.

This is an example of what $11 of groceries looks like from La Vega.

For whatever reason I really enjoy the lack of order and chaotic nature of places like this. It is messy, smelly (sometimes good, sometimes bad), unruly and a little dangerous. It just feels so authentic. It isn't even uncommon to see cars or motorcycles for some reason navigating these tiny aisles. Everybody is yelling, bargaining, throwing things, running around and keeping the energy level abnormally high. The bottom line is, it is a very interesting place to spend an hour or two wandering around and highly recommend it to anybody visiting Santiago. I plan on doing a more formal photo essay in the future about La Vega, so for now I only have a couple photos I shot this morning while shopping.

Check out an older post about the market in Cusco, Peru here!

Random Photo - Hoboken

I shot this photo about four years ago. It was late one night after I had worked a 16 hour day on a commercial shoot down the street. This is the far end of Hoboken that most people don't go to. There are a few blocks of random industrial buildings on the end of Hoboken closest to Weehawken.  I have had this sitting on my computer in an obscure folder and just stumbled upon it and figured I'd post it.  

The Lows of Finding Photography Work in Chile

Being in a new country with no work connections, I have been forced to get creative and look far and wide for potential opportunities. The results from my online efforts have so far been less than satisfying, but I have learned a few things.

One being that using job posting sites to find photography opportunities in Chile is basically useless. There are few listings and the ones that do come up are basically rapists who have minimal value for the products they are attempting to sell. Nearly all of them specifically look for students and beginning photographers who "have a dSLR, but no experience necessary!" so that they can pay little to nothing because they know that most of these photographers are desperate or don't know any better.

Moments ago I just read one that stood out more than most. The employer was looking for students with professional cameras and professional studio lights to photograph kitchen products with the quality  being "identical or better to those on Sur la Table's website." This employer very bluntly states that they expect quality that is equal or better to those who produce some of the highest quality product shots in the industry. But they intend on paying little to nothing for it. Certainly nowhere near the $1,000+ day rates that the photographer who shot the Sur la Table products got. But, the quality should still be better, obviously.

Other ads here follow a similar pattern with the majority of them being extremely vague. "Big company needs photographer for 600+ photos. Email us your rates. Beginning photographers with highest quality equipment encouraged." How are we supposed to send rates if we don't know what we are shooting, where the photos will be used or any other details? I do contact these listings and inquire about the details of the shoot, but I never receive a reply. Most likely because somebody else proposed something so insanely low they couldn't pass it up and apparently if you have a great dSLR that automatically means you can take great photos.

Now, I know the photography industry in Chile just recently beginning to develop and it's not yet widely accepted as something that deserves decent pay rates. I try to understand this as a cultural difference but sometimes it can be a little frustrating. Just like anybody looking for a job anywhere knows. I am also aware this isn't NY and I can't expect similar rates, but when companies set out with the lowest standards possible I don't even stand a chance. Not because I'm that good, just because I have self respect and know the work I produce has value. What all of these ads tell me is that there are a lot of companies out there that either don't understand what good photography is and can do for the product they just put so much capital into, or they just have no value for their product. But then again, the best opportunities aren't found in ads online anyway. All this means is that a whole lot more effort needs to be put in to find clients who do value a photographers abilities.




There aren't too many interesting photos I can post relating to job searching, so as a breath of fresh air I will post a couple beach photos instead.

Iquique

Juan Lopez

Smoggy Santiago from Cerro San Cristóbal

Today I decided it was time to get up to Cerro San Cristobal for the first time this year. It had been raining all weekend and stopped late last night. Being Santiago is smog central during the winter and the only relief comes after rain, I knew I had to get up there while I had the chance.

Santiago suffers from thermal inversion which ensures there is almost always a heavy blanket of pollution just overhead. This sounds horrible, and in a way it is, but here in Santiago Centro I don't see it effecting my life like people in blogs all over the web complain about. Sure it's unsightly and probably doing some silent damage to my lungs, but if it's not in my face crappy, I just forget about it. I find it much easier that way than obsessing and worrying over something that isn't going to change and I certainly can't control.

A photo from 2009. The view was better today.

Anyway, I woke up nice and early and ran the approximately 8km from my apartment to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. For those who don't know, it is the hill in view from most of Northern Santiago with The Virgin Mary perched atop. Aside from spectacular views of the city, the mountains and miles and miles of smog, it also offers some decent hiking trails and momentary escapes into nature.

Heading up the dirt trails on the western side of the hill I almost felt like I was truly in nature, as long as I ignored the views of urban sprawl off to one side of the trail. Chile has an incredibly diverse number of trees and plants and even hiking up Cerro San Cristobal you are reminded of what is out there. The smells alone are overpowering (in an entirely good way). It reminded me of being in the hills of northern California during the spring. It was easy to temporarily forget about the pollution and grime of city life. Then you arrive to the top for expansive views and the slowly forming smog. Getting there quite early I did get to see farther and cleaner views than usual. But while sitting up there for about 30 minutes I did notice the smog forming over certain areas and thickening by the minute. It is less than ideal, but this is just how it is here in Santiago, so deal with it I say.


This photo is entirely unrelated to smog, but I just took it from my little balcony and figured I'd throw it in because a blog post with only one photo is a little boring eh?

An old man waiting for the bus

Random Photo - Atacama Desert

From just outside of San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile.

Notes from La Paz

Thoughts on Bolivia taken from my notebook. Written while eating at an Indian restaurant in La Paz. It's unedited aside from standard grammar.

"La Paz fascinates me. It is the same concept I have experienced dozens of times all over the world: a city. Many, many people living in the same area. But here it feels so different. It feels crazy, exciting and dangerous. New York never felt so tame. These days, you can walk in plenty of areas of New York while being lost in your head. You can be absolutely clueless of your surroundings, as most New Yorkers seem to be. But here I feel like I need to be awake and aware. Not sure if it's because La Paz is excitingly different or simply new to me.

Either way, there is a level of chaos I find comforting. I tend to dislike police officers more than the average scofflaw on the street. It is liberating to know there is such a lack of order that you can get away with so much without law enforcement even batting an eye. They seem prepared to move for nothing less than a full scale riot, despite their constant presence.

This city has the most intimidating police force I have ever seen. Around nearly every corner is a machine gun or shotgun toting man in a dark, earthy green army suit with the entire hat, boots and sunglasses get-up. They also carry an expression that says "yes I'm corrupt and fire my gun at will." There are also a strangely high number of unmarked randoms walking around in full bullet proof gear. Yes, they are prepared. But for what?

Traffic and pollution in La Paz is insanely high. In the time before my body could adapt to the thick exhaust, smoke and smog filling all main streets I couldn't help but imagine how much this must effect your health after years of inhalation. Poorly maintained, old cars recklessly speeding around, combined with La Paz's position in a valley that doesn't allow car exhaust to properly escape, makes for some horrid air quality.

The pedestrians in La Paz are just as aggressive as the cars. And you have to be to get anywhere. When it's common for drivers to completely ignore red lights, driving lanes and the pedestrians have the right-of-way mentality, you have to be brave. You have to carry the confidence that the driver will eventually stop. Won't he?

It's not uncommon to see groups of old women slowly making their way, lane by lane, across eight lanes of zig-zagging cars. And darting past them is middle aged men in full sprint. On the narrow sidewalks stocky, bull-headed women in traditional garb, trek on with no intention of moving for anybody. They have days of dirt in their sun-pruned faces, silver teeth and a colorful sack on their back filled with salable items, food and maybe even a dead llama fetus (for good luck). Children play real-life games of Frogger with reckless abandon. While tourists simply stand there thinking back on how they thought crossing the street in New York was tough.

As fast and crazy as this city seems to be, there are an excessive number of people who walk obnoxiously slow. Most sidewalks are thin and have tons of people spilling into the streets with traffic whizzing by. And there is always, always somebody clogging up the flow. Walking a block here is work in itself. So much time is spent looking at the ground because it is rarely smooth or stable. There are holes, puddles and eight inch wide cracks between cobblestones. Maintenance, upkeep and order is practically nonexistent. One orange cone may warn of a 30 foot area of wet cement or sketchy, block long construction sites. There  will be little to no sidewalk, dead ends and absolutely no advise on the safest route."

All being said, I think this city is awesome.

View of the Andes off in the distance

Vendor at El Alto Mercado

Street Vendor

Mother and daugthers

More notes to come! And if you missed my first set of notes on Bolivia check them out here.

Stop and Remember Where You Are

When you are in a specific place for a while, it is only a matter of time before the initial excitement wears off and you start to become jaded. I constantly remind myself of the fact I'm living in Chile. That this is all so different and that so much of Chile is simply gorgeous.

I am grateful to be here and I never forget it. But with over six months here, on top of three previously, I rarely experience the same awe I felt when I first came here. I look around and know it's beautiful and appreciate every second of it. But it's never the same as seeing it for the first time.

Before traveling somewhere, you think, dream and imagine about what it will look like. You see photos and you try to visualize yourself there. Then when you are there it is almost always better. Beyond better. The smell in the air fills your nostrils and attaches themselves to your memories. The mood and feeling of the place takes you over. You experience the weather, the feeling of the sun on your face. Or the rain, depending on how you catch it. Seeing it in person allows it all to come together. To make sense and become a memory and experience, and not just a thought or day dream.

On my trip to Mendoza last weekend I was surprised at how much more colorful the landscape was compared to my trip three months earlier during summer. There were red fields with golden yellow trees reaching up to rich blue skies all amongst seas of vibrant green. The colors made everything seem so alive even though the fast approaching winter temperatures were slowly killing everything (quite beautifully, I might add).

It took returning home and viewing all the photos a couple days later that it hit me how beautiful it was and how Chile continues to surprise and impress me (very often really). My photos weren't anything that special. Shot through a dirty window (I've made a habit of trying to clean off the inside and outside of the window before leaving, but it only helps so much), out of a van going 70mph the focus may be a little off, the framing not ideal and there is absolutely no time to think while it all zooms by. But nonetheless the landscape itself is just so striking you can't help but mentally stop and enjoy it for a moment.

Having done four cross country US road trips in the previous two years, I was well accustomed to photographing out of a moving vehicle. This time was just easier because I wasn't also driving. But the sharpness of the images and time to make thought out compositions wasn't really there. You can just get a couple ideas in your head that you try to execute if, and when, they pass by.

Below are some images during the bus ride from Santiago to Mendoza. If you don't know anything about this bus ride, you should definitely do it if you ever stumble upon the opportunity in your life. It is six hours of stunning, constantly changing landscapes. From Santiago the road winds past rolling hills laced with vineyards and vistas of far off mountain peaks. The far off peaks become closer and closer and gradually you are surrounded by the jagged Andes at their most impressive (even passing the highest peak outside of The Himalayas, Aconcagau (22,841 ft)) Then you head back down in elevation to a more arid, high desert type environment, still surrounded by towering mountains.

Anyway, my photographic editing style constantly changes and goes through phases. On trips like this I don't get to think about what I'm shooting. I just shoot it as it goes by. So I never know what I'm going to do with an image until I'm looking at it on the computer and an idea comes from somewhere. Sometimes I see things in panoramas, sometimes 4:5 format, and today, squares. So a majority of these are in squares, because that's how I'm seeing things these days.

Santiago to Mendoza on Three Wheels

This past weekend I went solo on my second trip to Mendoza, Argentina to renew my visa. My first trip I went with Camila and although there isn't all too much to do in Mendoza, it was a good time. I don't generally use the word lovely, but for some reason it feels entirely appropriate when describing Mendoza. As a traveler it isn't all that exciting and doesn't require more than a few days to enjoy most it has to offer.

There are nice wineries and hot springs outside of town, and nice restaurants, parks and plazas within the town. But beyond that it gets boring kinda quick. That being said, I can see it being a lovely place to live. Life here is slow and it seems like everything in town is closed most of the time. Stores, restaurants and most businesses seem to open between 9am and 12pm and then close from 2pm-6/7pm. Then they open again for a couple more hours, with restaurants staying open later obviously. Then on Saturday things have even less hours open and on Sunday, practically everything is closed.

It is a city that clearly doesn't take life too seriously, which is great. Beyond that, the weather is usually pretty nice and people seem quite happy overall. Oh yeah, and like all Argentinians, they love to party. Things don't kick off until after midnight, but parties easily go until 7am or later.

Being that I was alone this trip it was a little more boring than last time. I was exhausted after waking up early for the first bus to Mendoza which generally takes about six hours. This time, it took nearly 10 hours  due to a lazy wheel on the bus.

On the Chilean side of the border there are a series of around 30 switchbacks. At number 22 we were rounding the bend and out of nowhere there was sudden lurch to the left followed by a loud crash and grinding noise. We immediately came to a stop and we all climbed out to see what it was. The driver grabbed nearby stones to cram under the wheels to prevent the bus from prematurely heading back down the mountain. From the time the bus stopped moving to the time I was outside took about 45 seconds and once I was out there was absolutely no sign of the back wheel. The tire and rim was literally gone. Not sure if it shot off the side of the cliff or where it was, but it was gone.

A group of five men worked on getting the bus mobile while I went off shooting some photos. 45 minutes later we were on our way and then 15 minutes later we heard a loud thwap, thwap as the tire was working its way off the axel again. After stopping three times to fix the damn tire the driver finally started signaling other buses with free space to take us the rest of the way. So almost 10 hours later I finally made it to Mendoza and had little energy to do much at all.

At least it fell off somewhere with great views

The tire must be somewhere down there

The following day was Sunday, so everything was closed and the only area of activity was the park. So I headed there. One thing I really like about Mendoza, and Argentina in general is the number of old cars on the road. And I mean cool old cars. Most aren't in good shape but they still have a lot more character than a bunch of shiny new cars which dominate the roads in Chile.

I decided to take advantage of having interesting, stationary objects to practice a photographic technique I read about a little while ago called the Brenizer Method, first done by photographer Ryan Brenizer. I could describe all the details of the method but it would take too much time, so if interested click on the link above. It essentially involves shooting closer to a subject with a lens higher than 50mm(preferably even higher) at a wide open f stop of 1.8 or something similar. You stitch together a number of images to create a wider angle photo with a more blurred background(this is a very poor description, just Google it if you're curious). So here are a couple first attempts. These photos are only made with 3-4 frames (Ryan generally uses anywhere from 15-40 frames which makes a massive image) so the depth of field isn't super blurred like it could be. But it is a starting point!

Random Photo - Antofagasta

Ship off the coast of Antofagasta in northern Chile.