Through a Lens, Clearly
A Photo Essay and Other Images–
AC Dimatatac, who works as a media assistant for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, describes himself as an “an amateur photographer who likes to document environment and social issues.” AC sent over a photo essay on charcoal workers in Tondo, Manila titled “The Black Life.” Due to our limited space, we are publishing only some of the images. More of AC’s work is available at www.lightstalkers.org/ac-b-dimatatac.
Raffy Paredes
The Story: In the slum areas of Tondo, Manila, there is the town called Vicas – a place known for charcoal making. Everyone there is making charcoal for a living, and despite the health hazard of this kind of work, people still continue doing it in order to survive. Even children are participating in this dangerous job. They are always exposed not only to the smoke emitted from burning wood but also from the foul smell of a nearby dump site. The usual sickness that they get is tuberculosis but they don’t seem to mind it all.
Captions for the images are as follows:
A. The shanties of the charcoal makers rest in a dump site.
B. A man picks wood to be made into charcoal.
C. They cover the wood with earth before burning.
D. This boy checks if the pieces of wood are already “cooked” or have become charcoal.
E. Even at an early age, these children are already working as charcoal makers. Due to the hazardous environment, it is common for them to have cough, or worst, tuberculosis.
F. This lady packs the charcoal. One sack of charcoal sells for over 300 pesos.
G. A tired boy takes a nap beside a sack of charcoal.
Mike Gerald C. David (mgcdcollections.multiply.com) of Angeles City, Pampanga believes “that each photo must have a story.” This BS-Accountancy graduate says that his love for photography started three years ago. Using his mom’s camera, he discovered that photography could become “an outlet from the grueling pressures of being an accountancy student and student leader.” He shares: “I use my shots as an expression of my emotions, or to tell a story, or try to inspire others to find themselves and value the people and things around them in a simple way (thus minimal or no photo enhancement).”
Internal auditor and part-time magazine writer Nathaniel C. Uy relates that a required photography class in college opened his eyes to the aesthetics of composing good pictures. Natz says: “My view of photography radically changed; from the simple ‘kodakan’ moments with friends, photography is now an art form for me.” Today, he shoots to capture his travels for sharing with others. “If Marco Polo had photography during his time, then retelling exotic stories from the Orient wouldn’t be such a burden,” he muses.
Jeylourd P. Riofrir, a 4th year B.S. in Civil Engineering working-student at Western Institute of Technology in Iloilo City says: “I love photography as my passion in life and photography brings me to the life that is far from reality.” He shares images taken with a DSLR borrowed from his instructor, Engr. Ed Salavaria, who inspired him to enter the ‘world of photography.’
Also featured in today’s column is UST Comm Arts student Catherine Lacorte who says she’s an amateur who is still “saving up for a professional camera.”
Author’s Note: A photo by Jenn Valmonte in last week’s column was inadvertently attributed to another reader. The photo is published here once more.
