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. So I have been to an Ibaloy household in Virginia, in Staten Island in New York and of course, I continue to document various places which Ibaloys have adopted as their own.
These portraits are just snapshots, I’d say. These are about the people I have witnessed through the years while being with my family or as a guest in Ibaloy gatherings or events. And now, I have unknowingly expanded to include other groups of Igorots—specifically , the people of the Mt. Province. This is a work in progress.
