I love this photo. It captures a moment of immense happiness and fulfilment in my life. I'm standing on the steps of the Faculty of Law, in Buenos Aires, on the day they awarded me a prize for my contributions to health law.
Naturally, there’s also a movie behind it. Every photo is part of a larger story.
The Faculty of Law is my favourite place in Buenos Aires, one of the few spots I truly enjoy in a city I'm not particularly fond of.
Arriving in 1982 was traumatic. A horror movie.
Entering the Faculty was the plot twist that transformed the script into an engaging story.
The protagonist, me, enters the Faculty and rediscovers her joy. Initially, she doesn't stand out academically. In the first few years, she had more boyfriends than passed subjects, likely because most of the action took place in the faculty cafeteria rather than the classrooms.
But, as in any good film, there comes a moment when the protagonist decides to take things seriously. She swapped the bar for the library, and notes of dubious origin for treatises by renowned jurists. The boyfriends were still around but, as always, remained secondary characters.
The ending is very emotional. The protagonist doesn't tell anyone that she will take her final exam that day, but her father suspects it. Her father was always looking out for her, and seeing her become a lawyer was what interested him most in life.
The exam scene is brief. She sits down, the professor asks her a few questions, and then he smiles and says what everyone has been waiting to hear: "Go Doctor". In Argentina, lawyers are called "Doctors".
The brand-new lawyer greets all the professors at the table, and then sits alone, waiting for her signed university notebook. She always prefers savouring these meaningful moments by herself.
The next scene takes place in the bookstore, where she rented the notes of dubious origin and the treatises by well-known jurists. The sales staff, typically rude and unfriendly throughout the film, are actually good-hearted and care about "their" students. When the protagonist tells them she has graduated, they smile and applaud her.
Then we see the protagonist calling her father's office from a phone booth. They tell her he’s not there, and she leaves no message.
She arrives home almost simultaneously with her father. He knew. They embrace. The end.
More than twenty years passed between the film and the photo.
A lifetime.
Yet, the faculty was always there. I studied there, I taught there, I even voted there. It was my second home, and I loved it.
That's why that photo represents me. Although it appears I'm alone, I'm not. I am accompanied by the faculty and my daughter, the photographer.
Location, photography, and costume.
The blue skirt is a significant detail. Its many flounces make me feel like a dancer. It's impossible to go unnoticed in that skirt, which is why I love it.
More than ten years have passed between that photo and today.
Another life.
What's left?
In Buenos Aires, the faculty.
In Barcelona, my daughter, me, and the blue skirt.
Location, photography, and costume.
A new movie is about to begin.
😍😍😍😍
Loved it…