The Golden Ladies Of Argentina

For his series Golden Ladies, photographer Ignacio Colo went to the heart of Mar Del Plata, the largest beach resort in Argentina. He explains that this area "used to be very posh and aristocratic" — a hotspot for upscale vacations. But the beach has since lost the glamour that once inspired the holidays of so many — save for those titular ladies, who haven't let the beach's changing reputation keep them from hitting the sand whenever, however, and wearing whatever they want. They "feel very free to look the way they like," Colo says.

The women in Colo's photographs are what he calls "the faithful keepers of the tradition of a Mar del Plata holiday, a habit transmitted from generation to generation of Argentineans." Ranging in age from 45 to 70, they lounge on the shore among working-class families and tourists "from the first ray of the sun until the very last one," Colo tells us. "They love sunbathing and they usually don't even touch the sea."

Their sun-worshipping habits may raise some eyebrows (we'd like to think that keeping your skin safe is just another part of loving the beach). But Colo explains that, like most people in Mar Del Plata, these women "follow [their] own fashion rules. In that sense, they are very free."

Read on to meet the Golden Ladies: self-assured women who don't see why anything should preclude them from having a beautiful day at their favourite beach.