Which came first? My passion for traveling or my passion for photography? They are both so intertwined that it’s a hard question to answer. However, I do remember once standing in front of the New York City skyline and realizing that my old phone camera simply wasn’t doing justice to what my eyes were seeing. Since then, I have traveled to over 50 countries taking shots that showed the culture and sights of each new city, village or nature park I was visiting.
In 2018 that eventually led me to leave everything behind – including my job, my apartment and my furniture – so that I could travel the world for 18 months. Despite the many challenges, it is a decision that I will never regret. It wasn’t an easy one, though. I kept overthinking things, telling myself how foolish I was to leave everything behind just for a few months of travel. Yet my heart kept pushing me the other way.
I started nervously in Argentina, my home country, but kept on at a fairly slow pace, visiting almost all the countries in Latin America. From the Atacama desert in Chile and the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru to the chicken buses of Central America and beyond – at every step of the way, my camera was always around my neck.
I mostly prefer street photography, so my memory card was filled with faces of everyday people going about their daily lives. Holding a big DSLR makes you conspicuous, yet I mostly encountered curiosity from the locals, rather than anger.
I eventually made my way to southeast Asia, that old beaten path of backpackers, where destiny decided that I would be stranded in Thailand for four months. And by destiny, I mean the COVID-19 pandemic. With the world in apocalypse mode and my trip cut short, I had no choice but to return to my old office job and rejoin the rat race. Yet always in my mind, the roads were calling me back and inviting me to finish what I had started in 2018.
That moment is now. So, in 2024, I am, once again, beginning a world tour to complete the task that I set myself up for back then. This time, it will be Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. I hope I can share with you what I’m seeing through my lens.
Gonzalo Rosendo is a travel and street photographer from Argentina, who has captured images from around the world over the past 10 years. In 2018, he embarked on an 18-month world tour to capture life in Asia and Latin America, but his trip was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, he plans on doing the same in Africa and the Middle East.
Tech details
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T2i (550D / Kiss X4)
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-6.5 IS II
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter speed: 1.6 sec
ISO: 200
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