11/12/2025
The Time Machine: A Photographer Will Travel Across the Americas with Emotional Stories Captured in 1850s-Style Photographs
This text comes from the news published in Diario Los Andes, on December 10, 2025, written by Ignacio de la Rosa. Link at the end of the text.
The adventurer will take between three and five years to capture stories and images frozen in time. His mission: to help individuals who play key roles in their communities.
“Do you know that feeling when you think you have everything figured out and suddenly life slaps you so hard it leaves you inside out? Well, something like that happened to me a couple of years ago. And that’s how this project was born,” says Andrés Bonafede (38). This photographer and researcher will leave Mendoza before February 15th to travel 13,000 kilometers across South America until reaching Colombia. But it won’t be an ordinary trip: along the way, he will interview different people, record their stories for an audiovisual documentary, and photograph them using an antique camera and a technique that requires developing the images on the spot, in real time.
“The photos will be made with the wet collodion technique, which dates back to 1850 and allows you to make photographs directly on glass. The plate must be prepared immediately before being exposed, which means I’ll be carrying the lab ‘on my back’,” Andrés explains. Although he already has an adapted tricycle with the lab mounted behind it, he now has just over two months to find a motorcycle capable of carrying the same setup and becoming his new mode of transport.
Throughout the journey, Bonafede will share moments and interviews with people whose meaningful and concrete actions contribute to their communities—individuals with transformative stories. And it is these actions he will immortalize with artistic, timeless images created with an antique camera and a technique nearly 200 years old.
Through social media and his website, Andrés will share the day-to-day of his journey, along with brief fragments of the interviews with these inspiring figures. The full interviews, however, will be available only for those who, moved by the stories, wish to acquire the complete material.
“In addition to the full interview, I’m going to take three photos using the wet collodion technique. One of the images will go to the protagonist—it’s developed right there in the mobile lab—while the second will be available for sale online together with the complete interview. Also, 65% of the sale price of that material will go to the person who shared their story, so they can use the money for their project or for their role as a community change-maker,” Bonafede explains. He adds that the third photograph will be saved for the final exhibition he will hold in Colombia once the journey is complete.
He estimates the project will take between three and five years. His goal is to travel slowly, discover towns and people, and immerse himself in each story.
A Journey in a Time Machine
Bonafede is a photographer specialized in advertising and has always been dedicated to the preservation of photographic archives. In fact, the only existing copy of the daguerreotype of San Martín—which is kept in Mendoza—is his work.
In 2023, Andrés had everything he believed he needed to be happy. Or at least, that’s what he thought. But suddenly came one of those blows that only life knows how and where to deliver.
“I had everything sorted out, and then a slap knocked me down. My grandmother died, I separated from my partner, I had reached the peak of my work as a photography history researcher at a university in Colombia… After that, I was in really bad shape. Until one day I said, ‘Enough pills, enough of all this!’ I decided to look for my motivations, and that’s how the idea emerged: to travel and interview people—not for what they do, but for why, despite everything, they continue choosing to do what they do,” says the Mendocino, who lives in Godoy Cruz.
That’s how he began sketching the project in his mind, shaping it and defining its contours. From the very beginning, Bonafede knew that he and his work—both the video blog and the wet-collodion photographs—would serve as a vehicle to help others.
He already has a firm departure date before February 15th, heading south from Mendoza. Mendoza–Esquel is the first stage of the trip, the only one fully planned and pre-produced. It will consist of 18 episodes over 30 days of intense travel (on bike or on motorcycle—if he manages to get one), during which he will conduct 10 interviews.
“One of the stories will be in Centenario, Neuquén, where a women’s cooperative works in orchards. They grow apples and vegetables, but due to gentrification the population has expanded over those lands. So this group of women has organized to preserve the orchards. The money raised from the audiovisual interview and the photo will go directly to that cooperative,” Andrés explains.
The mind behind the project will travel alone, revealing the antique photographs in his mobile lab in every place he visits, and assembling the first edit of the recorded material (which he will upload to the cloud). Meanwhile, his team in Mendoza will handle social media and final editing (color, sound, transitions).
“I don’t like the idea many YouTubers have of dropping into a place, extracting culture, and leaving. I want to leave something meaningful behind. The project is not just a travel video blog; it’s about finding stories that help me generate content, but above all, that help the other person achieve their goals,” he elaborates.
Ready, Set…
Andrés Bonafede is in the final preparation stage of his trip, polishing details. Still, he’s not exactly “out in the sticks with nothing”—as the saying goes—or “completely naked,” to put it bluntly. He already has the first stage pre-produced, with confirmed people and stories, though unforeseen additions may come up.
“I shouldn’t leave after February 15th because Patagonia starts getting cold, and whether I’m on the bike or the motorcycle, crossing into Chile might get complicated. I also decided to start in the South because if I started heading North, I’d be there during full summer—too hot—and that would cause the photographic plate to dry too quickly, and it must stay wet!” Andrés confides.
Among the preparations still pending, the most urgent—aside from finding sponsors to help cover the project’s expenses (always welcome)—is buying a motorcycle. The test rides and trial stages for this “massive, massive trip” have all been done on an adapted tricycle bike with the lab attached behind. But Bonafede already has the blueprint ready to mount the same lab on the motorcycle once he gets it.
He is also looking for a satellite internet provider willing to support the project with a connection that will allow him to upload his minimally pre-edited material from anywhere in South America.
“I’m selling everything I have at home—my bed, my cutlery, my furniture. I’m betting all my material belongings on this project, which is what moves me today,” he reflects.
What the Photographer Will Carry on His “Time Machine”
Although Andrés will travel as light as possible, there are essentials that form the backbone of the journey.
The photographic lab—currently mounted on the back of his bicycle and ideally soon on a motorcycle—will travel with him. This mobile cabin will be accompanied by a large-format camera (built by Andrés himself, ready to use, producing 13×18 cm photos) and a significant amount of chemicals to keep the photographic plates wet. He will also carry the basics needed to survive: a tent, sleeping bag, and warm clothing.
How to Help
While the journey is confirmed, Andrés remains open to support from those who wish to help—companies willing to contribute products or services he’ll need daily (starting with the motorcycle), or financial support.
For individuals passionate about the project, contributions can be made through his BNA+ bank account under the alias elviajeposible. He can also be contacted by email at [email protected]
, on Instagram and YouTube at , or by phone at 5492617183707.
“My calculation is that for every 1,000 pesos I receive, I can travel one kilometer,” he explains.
What the Journey Will Look Like
The only part already nearly finalized and pre-produced is stage one, which will take him from Mendoza to Esquel. After that, he will plan his path depending on the stories he encounters and the material he produces.
Beyond that, the stages are clearly defined:
E1 Argentina: Mendoza – Esquel
E2 Chile: Osorno – La Serena
E3 Argentina: San Juan – La Quiaca
E4 Bolivia: Villazón – La Paz – Lake Titicaca
E5 Peru: Desaguadero – Cusco – Zurumilla
E6 Ecuador: Huaquillas – Quito – Tulcán
E7 Colombia: Ipiales – Neiva – Bogotá
original text:
El aventurero demorará entre tres y cinco años para capturar historias y fotos detenidas en el tiempo. Busca ayudar a personajes que sean claves en la comunidad.
