Today was a long day of driving around with photographer, cinematographer and production crew in tow to find locations for the next three days of work—two days for the print campaign; one day for a short film designed for the web.
The latter tells a story of me walking across Patagonia on my way to the Perito Moreno glacier. Needless to say, it is a loose interpretation on reality, one that draws on the romance of venturing out into the wild with a pack on my back and not a care in the world. The sprawling landscapes allow the imaginary to roam through the chambers of one’s own adventurous inner world. While I favor polar or mountain environments to trek through, the theme echoes of notions I entertained many years ago of living a nomadic life on the trail.
Patagonia upholds its reputation as one of the more arresting landscapes in the world. Condors fly overhead. Sheep and wild horses graze the windswept valleys framed by mountain peaks stretching towards the sky, while glaciers pour into turquoise, freezing lakes. Rabbits and hares hop around, nervously evading the bold and menacing hawks or red tailed foxes. Vistas here will take your breath away.
We spend the day getting in and out of the van, and end the day on a working sheep farm. The “gouchos,” sporting their traditional “pepe-le-pew” berets, ride the herds on horseback. With the high snow-capped peaks for a backdrop, this is a horse riding paradise.