A guitarist performs during the 20th annual gaucho festival in Tacuarembo, Uruguay. — Photograph by Wayne Thomas

Blake Hendrix stands atop Los Manos, a sculpture of a hand reaching from the sand on the beach at Punta del Esta. — Photograph by Kyle Morgan

A guitarist plays his patched instrument on the streets of Montevideo. — Photograph by Rowene Weems Giarrizzo

A dancer swirls to traditional music and steps at an estancia or ranch near Colonia, Uruguay. — Photograph by Wayne Thomas

Above, tango dancers perform outside a restaurant in Buenos Aires’ Boca district. At right, another pair of dancers demonstrates the seductive moves of the tango. — Photographs by Blake Hendrix, above, and Amanda McDonough, at right

A man sips yerba mate on the street. — Photograph by Blake Hendrix

Uruguayan students, just starting fall classes, pose on a sidewalk. — Photograph by Kathy Williams

Above, a man fishes on the Rio de la Plata near sunset. — Photograph by Kyle Morgan

At left, a gaucho watches the festivities around campfires at Tacuarembo. — Photograph by Wayne Thomas

Above, a bareback bronc rider stays atop his mount in the gaucho festival rodeo in Tacuarembo. The Uruguayan rodeo doesn’t use chutes but snubs the blindfolded horse to a post before it’s released with its rider. At left, a participant at the gaucho festival in Tacuarembo stands silhouetted through the window of a traditional adobe and thatch shelter reconstructed for the festival. — Photographs by Wayne Thomas

At left, aging autos still run through the streets of Colonia. — Photograph by Rowene Weems Giarrizzo

At left, a resident looks out of a window in the colorful Boca district of Buenos Aires. — Photograph by Blake Hendrix

Color and a fake pigeon artistically decorate a building exterior in Buenos Aires. — Photograph by David Vaughan

NWC photography major Kyle Morgan shares the results of his portrait session with two Argentinian friends, Mariela Gonzalez and Agustina Espeche, both whom he met and photographed while visiting the beach in Punta del Esta at sunset. — Photograph by Dave Vaughan

NWC student Katie Lazzaretti shows a digital image to one of her subjects. — Photograph by Rachel Devine

Blake Hendrix photographs while riding behind Nathalie Vangrinsven at an estancia near Colonia. — Photograph by Kathy Williams