César Masachessi

The True Weight
of Mate

The True Weight of Mate is a documentary photography project that examines the lived reality behind one of Argentina's most emblematic cultural practices: the consumption of yerba mate. Developed in Misiones Province, the project follows the lives and labor of tareferos and tareferas — the men and women who harvest the yerba mate leaf — during the harvest season and the long periods of unemployment that follow.

The work focuses on the structural inequalities that sustain this industry. Tareferos routinely work long days in the heat and rain, carrying heavy bundles ("raídos") that can weigh between 50 and 130 kilograms, often without proper equipment or medical coverage. Payment is made per ton harvested, yet the amount they receive rarely covers basic living costs, while the final price of yerba mate continues to rise for consumers. Many workers live in precarious conditions, without access to clean drinking water, electricity, or sanitation, relying instead on informal or unsafe connections.

By staying close to everyday routines — work, waiting, family life, and moments of rest — the project seeks to make visible a form of labor that remains largely hidden behind a national ritual. El verdadero peso del mate confronts the distance between the symbolic value of mate as a shared cultural practice and the material conditions endured by those who make it possible.

The project is built through long-term presence in the territory and an attentive, ground-level approach, aiming to document not only labor, but also the social and economic realities that shape life in the yerba mate region.