JPG

Patagônia (ARGENTINA), 2005

Nikon N6006 17-35 lens

Kodak Tri-X Pan 400

Scene found during an off-road trip from Curitiba (Brazil), to “Tierra del Fuego”, in the extremely south of Argentina. Called Andean Fjords, the expedition have travelled a total distance of 25.000 miles, and the vehicle used was a Land Rover Defender. More than 2.000 pictures was taken (almost all in B&W roll film) during the 30 days trip. In the half ride is located the Patagonia region, the place where the picture above was made.

About Patagonia:

This is a geographic region (almost a desert) containing the southernmost portion of South America. Mostly located in Argentina and partly in Chile, it comprises the Andes mountains to the west and south, and plateaux and low plains to the east. The name Patagonia comes from the word patagon used by Magellan to describe the native people who his expedition thought to be giants. It is now believed the Patagons were actually Tehuelches and Aonikenk with an average height of 1.80 m (5'11") compared to the 1.55 m (5'1") average for Spaniards of the time.

To the east of the Andes, it lies south of the Neuquén River and Colorado rivers, and, to the west of the Andes, south of (39°S), excluding the Chiloé Archipelago. East of the Andes the Argentine portion of Patagonia includes the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, as well as the southern tips of the provinces of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and La Pampa. The Chilean portion embraces the southern part of the region of Los Lagos, and the regions of Aisén and Magallanes. It excludes those portions of Antarctica claimed by both countries.

Patagonia is for the most part a region of vast steppe-like plains, rising in a succession of abrupt terraces about 100 metres (330 feet) at a time, and covered with an enormous bed of shingle almost bare of vegetation. In the hollows of the plains are ponds or lakes of brackish and fresh water. Towards the Andes the shingle gives place to porphyry, granite, and basalt lavas, animal life becomes more abundant and vegetation more luxuriant, acquiring the characteristics of the flora of the western coast, and consisting principally of southern beech and conifers. The high rainfall against the western Andes and the low sea surface temperatures offshore give rise to cold and humid air masses, contributing to the ice-fields and glaciers, the largest ice-fields in the Southern hemisphere outside of Antarctica.