From Chaos to Clarity - How Eduardo Ortiz Builds a Photo
(This is the story behind the photograph—a glimpse into the moment, the process, and the vision that brought it to life.)
Eduardo Ortiz builds photos like puzzles, not snapshots.
Each piece matters: the background, the subject, and the moment itself. Before he presses the shutter, he has already thought about the scene, the light, and where everything should fall into place. His goal is not just to capture life as it happens. He wants to create visual order from real-world chaos. That’s why his street photos feel so clean, calm, and intentional.
This is how Eduardo builds a photograph from the ground up.
He starts by choosing the right background and waits for the right people to step into it. He shoots with deep focus, using preset distances and simple gear to keep his mind free for composition. By the time he lifts the camera, the frame is already solved. He just needs to press the button.
In this article, you’ll see exactly how that process works and why it leads to images that stay in your memory.
La Boca, Buenos Aires, 2023
It was mid-afternoon in La Boca, a colorful neighborhood in Buenos Aires. The light wasn’t ideal, somewhere between two and three p.m., but Eduardo had been watching this street corner for days. Kids often played football here. The walls were painted in strong yellows and deep blues, and a sign that read República de La Boca overlooked the court. The colors were loud, but they worked together like a scene from a film.
Eduardo had just come from India, recovering from a tough case of salmonella. His first weeks in Argentina were slow. But he knew this spot had something. He’d returned again and again, taking photos but never quite getting the shot he wanted.
“I saw the potential many times. There were always kids playing. So I took a lot of photos in this place. But this day in particular, I think the light was a little bit better.”
Eduardo works from the background forward. For him, a good photo doesn’t begin with a subject. It begins with a backdrop. The frame must feel clean. Balanced. Alive.
“I’m pretty much in the school of Zama Bell. He always said, the first thing you need to make it work is the background.”
The yellow sign. The blue walls. Together they created tension and harmony. Complementary colors that made the scene pop. Now he just needed a moment.
“That was the easy part, deciding the background. I just needed to find a moment.”
He took several images. Kids kicked the ball back and forth. But something was missing. The background was solid. The colors were there. The energy, though, hadn’t peaked.
Then, without warning, it happened.
A player’s shadow stretched across the court. The ball rose. Eduardo clicked the shutter at the exact right second. He didn’t even register whether it was a goal.
“I was so excited when I got this image that I totally forgot to see what happened afterward. People ask me, was it a goal? I’m like, I don’t remember.”
That, he says, is what makes the image work: tension. You feel like something is about to happen. Or just did. You’re left with a question. A photo that makes you wonder stays in your mind longer.
“There’s something to be resolved that makes you wonder. And I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
His process is methodical. First the background. Then the arrangement of people, avoiding overlaps. Finally, the decisive moment.
“The kids were what grabbed me to take the photo. But then I worked the background, the subject placement. And finally, I waited for a worthy moment.”
To get this shot, Eduardo used deep zone focusing. He often shoots at f/16, pre-focused at either 1.5 or 3 meters. He prefers a softer look and maximum depth of field.
“I just set my lens to 1.5 meters, and go get the shot. Everything is decided already. My exposure, my focus. The only thing I have to do is frame and shoot.”
This lets him move quickly and cleanly. No need to second-guess focus points or settings. It’s all about arranging the scene and reacting with instinct.
In the final image, everything clicks: color, light, movement, and form. The blue and yellow vibrate. The shadow cuts across the court. The ball is frozen mid-air. The background is clean, and the moment is full of suspense.
“For me, a good background is a place where your subject is popping. I want clarity. I want things to stand out.”
Eduardo shares this image often. He’s proud of it, not because it’s perfect, but because it feels whole.
“Life is not perfect either. For me, it’s a good image. I’m proud of this image.”
