January 2012
1 post
Being Home
Session Rd, 20 January 2012 @KatPalasi
Malcolm Square cowboy, Plaza, Baguio. 20 January 2012 @KatPalasi
Malcolm Square, 20 January 2012@KatPalasi
In early January 2012, as I carefully scrolled down and sifted through the chaos of my Facebook network, I took note of someone’s post about SM Baguio (a mall chain in the Philippines) and its plan to cut down pinetrees in order to put up...
December 2011
2 posts
Home and Other Stories
Halsema view, Benguet. Photo @Kat Palasi 2010
Halsema, Mt. Trail, Philippines. Photo @Kat Palasi 2010
Mankayan, Benguet Photo @ Kat Palasi 2010
I have lived and worked in Manila for almost 20 years now but I was born and raised in Baguio in Northern Luzon which is about 7 hours away from Manila. My memories are of my father driving us to Atok Central in Benguet so we could attend the wake...
September 2011
4 posts
Listen
MMJ Assignment: Lina, Gentle Warrior in the Slums
We walk into the Likhaan Center for Women’s health one afternoon to see Lina Bacalando counselling Melody about what contraceptive method to use. Melody is a resident of Building 9, in Bgy 105, Tondo, Manila. She is 25 years old and has 4 children. Melody seems convinced to use an injectable which, Lina explains , will keep her from getting pregnant for the next three months. It is a typical...
Photo Essay MMJ- Lina, Gentle Warrior of Tondo
Lina Bacalando, NGO Community Health Worker on Women’s Issues, Tondo, Manila
Marianne, 19 years old, 1st pregnancy, Vitas, Tondo Manila.
Ulingan, Vitas, Tondo, Manila
Joshua, 8 years old, Ulingan, Vitas, Tondo, Manila
Dusk near the gutter section, Ulingan, Vitas, Tondo, Manila
Women clients of the Likhaan Center for Women’s Health, Vitas, Tondo, Manila
Vilma, 37 years old,...
June 2011
3 posts
Lola Marcela, 94
I recently went home to Baguio for a series of meetings on a Benguet project. But it was also a chance to meet my sisters and my only brother and their kids. While there, my sister Tina and I were talking about a relative, Lola Marcela-who had just died at 94. We had never really gone out of our way to meet her. She was a streetsweeper that Mama recalls meeting a long time ago. She was also one of...
May 2011
1 post
HOMECOMING-An Ibaloy Story
In 2007,I went to Tublay, Benguet where some of my ancestors originated. I photographed traditional Ibaloy burial practices. The wake was for my grandfather’s cousin Anas Bondong who was 86 years old. There were relatives and clan members who traveled from nearby provinces like Nueva Viscaya to pay their last respects.
There was Lolo Lorenzo, who had come to make sure the burial was...
April 2011
1 post
A Visit to Lanao
The road to Barangay Udalo, Municipality of Piagapo, Lanao del Norte.
At the Udalo Elementary school, Piagapo, Lanao del Norte.
Teachers in Bgy Udalo, Piagapo, Lanao del Norte.
Towards the end of March 2011, I was the photographer of a quick three-day visit of the documentation team of a large international organization in Mindanao. We went off to the South to check out a few basic...
February 2011
1 post
Nanay Tetay : A Woman From Banahaw
We first met Nanay Tetay in 1994 when we did an all-women’s climb to Mt Banahaw. She is from Bgy. Bugon at the foot of Mt Banahaw in Sariaya, Quezon. In 1994, five of us decided to trek to Banahaw and go down to the crater and exit out to the town of Sariaya.
The group was composed of Jing B., Nhel N., Irma B. , Radel T., and myself.
We followed the river out to Sariaya and ended up...
December 2010
1 post
On Filipino Comfort Women
I recently worked with American photographer Paola Gianturco who wanted to document the current activism of our remaining Filipino comfort women. I arranged for the interviews and translated and also took pictures. But the most important lessons were the things I learned as Paola and I worked together for three and a half days. Having produced four books so far that has concentrated on women and...
Storytelling and the Tagbanua
One would think that telling stories is an easy thing. As a photographer,it is not always easy. I know that context is also important in telling the story. It also matters what stories you want to tell.
Last year in December 2009, friends and I went to an island near Coron, Palawan for a break. I had heard also that the Tagbanua people lived nearby. After snorkeling and generally just taking it...
September 2010
3 posts
Of Photogs and Tammy's night
Tammy David and a friend of hers.
Tammy is only 27 years old but she is pursuing an honest look into things that touch her. Her first solo exhibit on beauty contests in the Philippines are an interesting glimpse into Pinoy culture. Tammy’s fresh and thoughtful approach into this issue gives Philippine photography a new strength. I’m going to wait for her next works. Good Luck,...
4 tags
On Ibaloys
I met up with Tanya’s mom—Manang Briggs Hamada recently at Rockwell, an unlikely place to meet up but it was a chance. That or wait till I go up to Baguio-which is not always an option for me. But we had a great time. I can’t believe the added notes that I gathered from just this short meeting. I am grateful. So we will let the wheels begin on some ideas. They are all about the...
6 tags
Coral Bleaching, Lian, Batangas
I had never thought much about corals except that I know fish live in them.But if you live in a country with lots of sea water around it and if you also travel by boat to the various islands and happen to love snorkeling or diving, there will be many chances of coral encounter. Today, the corals are turning white due to climate change—seawater has become hotter by 2 degrees. I went to see...
August 2010
3 posts
Maternal Health Care : On Assignment
On assignment recently, I came upon two maternal issues that have become more interesting to me - maternal deaths and breastfeeding. It just seemed opposite what I have come across in some of my journeys to document urban and rural poverty—how children were always everywhere in the communities I went to photograph. But of course, all these are under the umbrella of maternal and neonatal...
Dayhike to Mt. Maculot, Cuenca, Batangas
Welcome to Cuenca, Batangas. In the background is Mt. Maculot shielded by rising fog.
Puto of all kinds abound in the Cuenca Market.
Almusal namin sa Cuenca Market. Kapeng Barako, Sinaing na Tambakol, Gulay, Kanin.
Cuenca market barako coffee vendor.
Cuenca market busy scene.
Plants like these were common at the lower slopes. Maculot is 3 thousand feet above sea level. It was...
Banaba, San Mateo: Not An Ondoy Story
It will be September tomorrow and on the 26th, it will be a year since Ondoy ravaged Manila in 2009. I remember that as photographers, a friend and I went out at 4pm that day to shoot what was going on around us. In Kamias where the water rose waist-deep, we saw the rescue team standing atop their truck looking helpless.They too needed RESCUING! V Luna was also flooded. We had to turn back and...
Boracay Snapshots
I went to Boracay recently with my sister who has never been to there before. Where to stay was the question but I remembered a place that fascinated me before-Baling Hai resort. It was away from the main hub of tourists and if u were just keen to have peace and quiet-thats the place. Here are more pictures of Baling Hai during the low season of August.
The locals call this...
June 2010
2 posts
Igorots
I started shooting pictures of Ibaloys since I was about 13 or 14 years old. My father gave me a small Japanese camera and encouraged me to document Ibaloy culture. Ibaloys traditionally occupied the southern part of Benguet. But these days, Ibaloys are everywhere—Nueva Viscaya, Palawan, Mindanao, in North America, etc. The issue of migration in the Philippines also affects this community....
City of Manila : On Assignment
Last month, I was on assignment to shoot the city where I live—Manila. So I was thinking where to best get lost and shoot some fresh images. I always like shooting in Quiapo, the downtown area where chaos reigns. The vendors sell cheap China-made goods, Baguio vegetables probably snitched from the “bagsakan” areas near the bus stations of Dangwa or Victory liner or the...
October 2009
2 posts
14 tags
August 2009
6 posts
