There is a section in Buenos Aires called La Boca, which literally translates into “The Mouth”. It is a less wealthy section of the Argentine capital, but it is overflowing with culture and tourism. Tango dancers decorate every street corner, waiting for some impressed tourist to walk by and request a picture. Other natives set up colorful boards with holes cut out for people’s faces to replace those of the cartoons. Both will demand tips when the souvenir photograph has been snapped, and each sightseer will be caught too by surprise to refuse. These walls show a few of the many colorful buildings that line the roads of La Boca. The paintings below the wall line belong to street venders hoping to collect a quick peso from tourists and passersby. Although the air was cold for me at the time I took the picture, an observer would never be able to tell the true temperature from the bright and friendly colors of both the walls and the sky.
The colors of the buildings are there for the sole purpose of attracting tourists. They are happy and induce feelings of excitement, but the colors are just a facade. Underneath the paint it is possible to see the pealing of the paneling and the dirt embedded in the stucco; underneath the happy smiles of the dancers and vendors the poverty can be seen. Everything is beautiful to look at, but only for a short time. Once the pretenses fall away, the true function of the bars of the windows is realized. Those are not there for a pretty adornment, but for a cheap security system, as each of those buildings are in a city and need to be protected. Since the area is more to the impoverished end of the economic scope, there is little other way to protect the goods inside. The picture, nonetheless, is still pretty to look at and I prefer to take it for its superficial meaning.
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