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PIEDRA BUENA,
Buenos Aires.

The power of gifting a photograph

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Benito was based in Buenos Aires for 6 years. That in itself was a great experience.

It came about because we were contacted from Europe to carry out a marketing project with people from a rather humble neighborhood in the Argentine capital, to represent a story similar to that of Maradona.

 

We went to see a neighborhood in the south of Buenos Aires: Piedra Buena. Eduardo “Tyson” Seballos was our host. Together with his family, he owned a small store that sold anything and everything.

 

The European project never came to fruition. But one did emerge that truly inspired us, and to this day we still use it at the many varied companies with which we collaborate.

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Like all unknowns, our visit to the neighborhood at first created some tension, in both the locals and in us.

But at the same time it was a very attractive idea.

We didn't meet the new Maradona. Or maybe we did. Because the neighborhood kids took football seriously, as did their parents.

People who shared time together in the streets or on their porches.


Kids that were rehearsing a play. Old men playing poker in the back of a grocery store. Art in the streets.

 

The warmth of the people was such that at times we stopped seeing the neighborhood’s shortcomings and felt like staying. We never stopped taking photos to keep track of our time there

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The European project never came to be. But we embarked on an adventure that to this day is foundational to everything we do.

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GIFTING A PHOTOGRAPH

We suggested to Tyson that he support us in taking photos of the things that had captivated us, of the people of Piedra Buena. The idea was as simple as giving him some high-quality prints of the photos.


We wanted to somehow value what we saw in them. To show it off. To gift it back to them.

Tyson was motivated by the time we spent together. We were too, and we learned so much. But he was totally skeptical about the idea of taking photos to give away. Especially in the digital age when anyone can take a photo for free.

We printed a set of 10x15 photos in a good laboratory and left them at his small business so that he could deliver them in an envelope to his neighbors...

At 11:00 at night Tyson called us, so excited he was in tears. When he arrived in the afternoon, he began to give the photos out to neighbors passing by. After a short time, word got around and everyone had come to get one! It was a reason to get together, and everyone was so grateful.


And there are so many stories that will stay with us forever!

A neighbor who had an improvised taxi with his old Dodge 1500 put his son's photo on the windshield, but facing outwards... So the whole world could see what to him was his greatest wealth!

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PHOTO + SINCERE CONVERSATION

It's no coincidence that in all the projects we have taken part in since then and into the future, a photograph and a sincere conversation will take center stage.

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That is why we always end our presentations to workers or managers with this painting by Diego de Velásquez in which he represented one of the humbler people of his town, but showing all the purity that was in him.

White cotton, traces of true nobility in his face, sharing a cup of water with a young man.


And, probably, that's the key:

When we go to meet with work teams, we don't feel like we are doing them a favor, or giving them classes, or doing social work. We go to meet them, and for them to meet us. We go there safe in the knowledge that we will learn a lot and enjoy a very close encounter. We'll never forget our time with the legendary Eduardo “Tyson” Seballos from Piedra Buena, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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