Southern Exposure

When Kicca teaches the fundamentals of line, shape, and color, she makes a beeline for BA's oldest barrios—with the iPhone's newest sensor in tow. Yep! Armed with a freshly juiced smartphone and a few choice apps (she's partial to Snapseed for editing), even a professional travel photographer will leave her fancy lenses at home. 

With its kaleidoscopic conventillos, La Boca provides the ultimate backdrop for an introduction to color and composition.

The medialunas may be hit-or-miss, but you can always count on the city's landmarked bares notables for cinematic afternoon light.

"Buenos Aires is all about texture," says Kicca, "and texture is one thing the iPhone captures remarkably well."

Always game for shooting San Telmo on market day, Kicca finds that people, when elegantly incorporated, lend a natural warmth to her images. "Often photographers are concerned with getting a 'clean' shot," she says. "When possible, I prefer to look for a way to embrace the noise."

Changing murals keep this photogenic neighborhood hang in a constant state of visual flux. "I love the energy here," says Kicca. "And I was so pleased because on this visit I managed to get the ball in midair!"

Kicca never tires of exploring San Telmo's indoor market, opened in 1897. Here, her decision to center the quirky light fixture (rather than the atrium's vanishing point) shows off structural ironwork, geometry, and shadows to dramatic effect.

"A rainy day can be a welcome opportunity to practice seeing creatively," says Kicca, whose decades in the field have taught her to make the most of less than perfect weather. "In challenging conditions, you learn to see what's actually in front of you—rather than what you may have hoped or expected to see."

One of Kicca's favorite ways to approach predictable themes (like tango) is to treat them with a little bit of humor. 

"An unlocked gate is very hard to resist," says Kicca, who's been known to steal a snap from just inside this colorful private courtyard.

Built in 1775, this crumbling blistered brick facade predates the birth of Argentina's best-known revolucionario by more than 150 years. "The interiors are meant to be stunning," says Kicca. "The owner has promised that one of these days he'll invite me in!"