Uruguay

Montevideo

16th march 2011.

Taking these streets photos can be very annoying. And also very fulfilling. I've seen so many streets by now that you would think I couldn't be surprised that fast anymore. With people there are always surprises.

Usually when I arrive in a new city I try to meet with someone who lives there. Through friends or couchsurfing sometimes. But that doesn't always work out. If it doesn't, like in Montevideo, I have to start looking around for the right spot by myself. This obviously takes more time but eventually also works.
In Montevideo I started walking around the center of town aiming for some big streets that I'd seen on the map. I arrived at a square with a bus stop on it. It looked like a pretty good place for photos. When I'm looking around I usually don't bring my camera.
When I came back the next day, when the light was at it's best, I started taking photos. Right away I could see that it wasn't as good as I had thought. But I stayed a while anyway. It's always a little weird to just stand there with your camera and take photos of people you don't know. Not everybody likes it of course. Some people, often hot babes, walk away. I can't blame them.
Sometimes people really get annoyed. A group of anarchists entered the square and walked right into my composition. I didn't really care about it. They live there too, right? But as soon as they saw me taking photos one of them, a guy, walked up to me and agressively started speaking in Spanish, obviously saying I should stop taking pictures. Who the hell is he to demand that? Nobody else seemed to mind. Rather hard to explain without any Spanish though. He didn't speak a word of English. He just kept saying: No photo, capito! I just looked at him with a face as if I hadn't the slightest idea what he wanted replying: it's my job! He came a little closer, looked me straight in the eyes and said:'No photo!'
I said:'IT'S MY JOB!'. Then he took off.

That kind off stuff doesn't make you feel better about taking photos. The sun was almost gone so I walked back to my hostel. It's in front of Indepencia Square. I thought 'let's check that place out". It was a lot better.
When I returned the next afternoon the light was perfect and there were a lot more people there than the day before. I choose a place with two mothers and some kids who were chilling out and playing on a bench. They didn't mind.
After half an hour I already had some decent shots. But then it happened. From the other side of the square a red and blue figure came walking towards us. I had to look again to really believe it! It was Spiderman!
He came walking up to us and this is when the kids also noticed him. At first they thought it was pretty cool. But when he kept on walking straight at them they became a little worried. They started to hide behind their mothers. I couldn't believe it. This was happening right in front of me! He came even closer and now the kids were really scared. He just stood there for a while. Then out of nowhere another guy, somewhat crazy if you ask me, walked up to Spiderman and stood right next to him. At exactly the same time they waved at the kids. That was my shot!

It's amazing what happens in these streets. Bad stuff and good stuff. Mostly good stuff. I love this photo.