Upside Down Me in Buenos AIres
Meritxell Soler Gonzalez’ bright, colorful photos give us an inside look at the energy of Buenos Aires, Argentina. We especially love the #upsidedownmeeee series she created when she first moved to Buenos Aires from Barcelona in 2004. The photos highlight how everything in the Southern Hemisphere feels upside down: Christmas is celebrated in summer, August is freezing cold, etc. Meritxell said the photos also capture the sensation that she’s dangling from the bottom of the globe. Follow the fun at @mevisualartist.
Place you live: Buenos Aires
Place your Instagrams were taken? The pictures were taken during my everyday wanderings around the city of Buenos Aires, also commonly known by its inhabitants as “Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires”. My Instagrams are moments of life, small details, and they capture the places I visit everyday and my artistic work as well.
Can you sum up Buenos Aires? Coming from a city like Barcelona and having lived here for 10 years, I still feel that Buenos Aires is a very chaotic, crazy and at the same time romantic city to live in. It has the European spirit and an inherent decay. If it’s the first time you visit the city, you may have the feeling that you have already been here before. The architecture seems familiar, like that in Paris, Barcelona, or Madrid, but in its own unique, old, irregular way.
What is a perfect day Buenos Aires? The weekend is perfect because it’s when the craziness of the city has turned off and you can enjoy riding a bicycle, for example.
If Buenos Aires was a person or character who would it be and why? Mmmm, that’s a difficult one. I think it would be an Italian-Spanish-Jewish person because Buenos Aires is a mixture of all of them and it has a very deep layer of immigrant history behind it.
How long have you been using Instagram? Since the 26th of October 2012, when I uploaded my first photo!
Do you shoot with your phone or other cameras or both? I have several cameras (from a 35mm old Nikkormat, to a medium format RB67 Mamiya, to Canon digitals models) but I only use my DSRL and analog cameras at work. For Instagram I only use my iPhone. I like to use Instagram or VSCOgrid only with my mobile shoots.
What is your editing process? I always edit my Instagrams with VSCO. Always using the same process, with the same kind of filter (the analogs ones) and the same touch to each photo, to mantain the coherence and aesthetics in my grid.
Do you create images outside of Instagram? Yes, I work as a professional photographer and filmmaker. I like to call myself an artist, as well because that is what I studied and what I feel I am, but I haven’t been that lucky yet. I still don’t have a gallery that represents my work.
Has Instagram/phoneography affected how you shoot? I think it has. At least I try to put my style and vision on my Instagram shoots, so you can find my artistic touch on them. I think this is important, so I work the same way with all the other photos I take besides those in Instagram. The Falcon series, for example, is artwork I have been working on during the last ten years and now I continue doing it in Instagram too. Without a doubt, Instagram has given me other possibilities and the language is obviously sometimes quite different.
Can you give a couple tips to aspiring Instagram photographers? There’s no formula. Just be yourself and try not to do what others do. Try to find a voice, a style and go for it – always following the same line, to bring coherence to your feeds.
Who are your three favorite Instagrammers? I like @piluro for her incoherence between pictures and words but at the same time, for being herself. I love the look of LA by @george_byrne and I definitely like the work of my beloved husband, @julianbv, who is an everyday inspiration to me as he is an amazing photographer.
Want more Instagram tips and inspiration? Check out all of our Best of Instagram features here and learn from the masters.
Name:Meritxell Soler Gonzalez
City:Buenos Aires
Best place to eat:
For a vegetarian meal you should go to Sattva. For good Argentinian meat, a great place is Parrilla Don Ernesto.
Best place to drink:
An amazing old French chateau called Milion which has been converted to a bar and restaurant.
Best outdoor activity:
Going to the countryside for an asado.
Must do:
Eat an Argentinian steak. Eat a slice of pizza “de parado” at Güerrin. Visit the Museum of the Immigrants and enjoy the cultural life that the city offers.
Local tip:
Try to not look like a tourist with a camera around your neck, otherwise you could get in trouble.