The renowned journalists Mariana Rapoport and photographer Victoria Schiopetto They knew how to capture those environments that hypnotize due to the originality of their inhabitants in two books, “The Eccentrics” volume I and II”, where they share the behind-the-scenes of these characters and invite us to openly display our desire to live as we please.
In the first volume, both traveled from north to south of Argentina for several months to portray 18 projects ranging from a Moorish palace in Mendoza to a rebuilt church on the outskirts of the capital Jujuy. A former convent of French nuns in La Cumbre in an old Alguero town in Chubut. A solitary grocery store in Centinela del Mar and exquisite apartments and artists’ workshops in CABA.
This is how they managed to capture everything in 260 pages that so captivated those who like to access and consume “lifestyle” content last year that they now come out with another book that portrays the homes of artists, journalists, designers, architects and lawyers, among others. others.
“The Eccentrics” is a tribute to all those who are not afraid to think and live outside the ordinary, who respect their desires and teach us that being different is, ultimately, a way to be truly free.
Mariana Rapoport and Victoria Schiopetto
For the second volume they discovered more in eccentrics from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The content they generated in 300 pages does not focus on fashion or trends; On the contrary, they focus on authenticity and the desire to live that many have without caring about the looks of others and strangers.
We spoke with its two authors just hours before volume II comes out of the oven about these people who dare to go beyond sanity and how they know how to detect that extra (ordinary) beauty that is outside the conventional rails.
Mariana Rapoport (left) and Victoria Schiopetto. GentlenessWhat are these books about?
They are books that celebrate beauty, an extraordinary, atypical beauty, far from the canons that dictate trends. The DNA of the eccentric runs through rarity, originality, obsession, bravery, extravagance, idealism and curiosity.
Being eccentric is a decision, crazy… what?
They do not decide to be eccentric, that would be far from the search for freedom that is a common denominator in all of them. This freedom, this expression of desire regardless of what they say, results in this equation: a fuller, more honest life = a life with greater emotional well-being.
From beautiful, extreme houses, to dens; from mansions to grocery stores… How do they make those places unique, their places in the world?
They surround themselves with everything that makes them happy. How Rafael Rivas, in vol. 1, he spent his entire retirement to buy that set of cut crystal glasses that made him happy. Or the 90-year-old dentists, who are in the vol. 2, are a clear expression of horror vacui: the house is crammed with hundreds of objects that were accumulated with a lot of love and each one has its own particular story.
What concept of home, finally, is discovered after interviewing these eccentrics?
They are very special, unique places, with a lot of magic. In them we discover fascinating characters with unique, very inspiring stories that tell us about the search for freedom and the celebration of diversity, originality, respect for responding to desire without caring about the gaze of others.
Did you find some in Patagonia?
Yeah! The wonderful ranch of the artist and designer Gonzalo Fernández Iramain, on the outskirts of the center of Bariloche: a magnificent example of reuse and resignification of a wooden house that he bought, disassembled, loaded on a truck and reassembled, in his own way, in his land.
And what can we say about Bustamante Bay, in Chubut, a natural paradise: a former Alguero town from the 1950s that was abandoned and in 2000, Matías, grandson of Lorenzo Soriano, its creator, converted it into a lodge that maintains that austere spirit. There, luxury is elsewhere: in Bahía Bustamante you experience the magnificence of nature in its purest state. The lodge has 55,000 hectares of steppe bordered by 60 kilometers of rugged coastline, dotted with beaches, coves filled with turquoise water, natural pools that form between the rocks when the tide rises, and a large colony of penguins.
What were you looking for with these two books?
With these books we hope to not only entertain but also inspire our readers to celebrate their own uniqueness. We want “The Eccentrics” to serve as a reminder that, in a world that seeks homogeneity, being different is not only valuable, but necessary. It is our way of paying tribute to those who, through their eccentricity, have contributed to making the world a more interesting, beautiful and diverse place. In short, “The Eccentrics” is a tribute to all those who are not afraid to think and live outside the ordinary, who respect their desires and teach us that being different is, ultimately, a way to be truly free.
Do you want to receive our Being Well newsletter every Wednesday and Saturday for free? Subscribe here.
