Pages

Monday, December 27, 2021

The Argentine Conscript Sailor

 

Buenos Aires - 1965

From this side of this 21st century I would like to tell you something about the sailor seen here. He is Argentine, and, because he was born according to his birth certificate on April 18, 1943 (and not his real Sanatorio Anchorena birth on 31 August, 1942) he did his two year military service in the Argentine Navy as Clase 1943 and is 22 years old here. Because Jorge Alejandro Waterhouse-Hayward is wearing navy blues, this photograph must have been taken during an August Buenos Aires winter. His hair seems a tad too long, so soon after this photograph, Cabo Moraña, Infantería de Marina ARA would have sent the conscript for a haircut.

The photograph was perhaps taken by one of Jorge Alejandro’s navy buddies with a Pentacon-F with a 50mm Tessar lens. There is no explanation for the apparent failure of the usually accurate focal plane shutter.