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Writing on the wall with Una


"I love this place so much," Alex Baluyut enthuses, drinking from his bottle of beer. It's six pm and the watering holes in the wall of Cubao X are just beginning to fill up. "Any time on any day you're sure to find someone you know here," he tells me. Right on cue, someone comes up to him with a warm greeting, and for the nth time, Baluyot is whisked away to catch up. The 54 year-old photojournalist is known as the "bad boy of Philippine photography" but this reputation has earned him more friends than enemies in his years of experience. Of the many friends he's made along the way, quite a number of them have been showing up at Cubao X in the past few days. Inside the Manila Collective, his students' works are on exhibit in Una: 9 New Photo Stories. The exhibit opened last Wednesday to an impressively large crowd. The small gallery was bursting with people and good vibes, with barely any room to walk around and see the works, which the students produced in Baluyut's masterclass in documentary photography. After covering everything from weddings to the New People's Army in Mindanao, Baluyut has lived in a tiny room in Paco, won the National Book Award twice and settled into his new role teaching photojournalism at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he is the founding faculty member of the Diploma in Photojournalism program. He is as famous for his temper as he is for his intense work, and it's a bit hard to imagine him in a classroom setting. It's no surprise that his masterclass would be different - a ten-week course of online sessions and a few face-to-face meetings, which were held in Manila Collective. On the fourth week, the students present their concepts, which they would develop together. Once approved, they set out to gain access for their shoots.

Alex Baluyut engaged in conversation with friends outside the gallery. Photo by Leonard Reyes
Energetically, and peppered with language usually not permitted at home, Baluyut explained that photo stories can develop into documentary photography, but he had not wanted to overwhelm his students. "I didn't know they would turn out to be so talented, so passionate," said Baluyut. The result is at least promising, and to be honest, quite amazing. On Manila Collective's walls are different worlds - all shot in the Philippines, but given each photographer's distinct eye and unique concept, the experience is truly like reading several stories. There are available write ups of each photo story with a short paragraph on the photographers, but of course, the words fail to convey the photographs' artistry and emotion. Nico Africa's "Barter, Quiapo" was shot in the areas intersected by R. Hidalgo, A. Bautista and Arlegui streets - "a true melting pot of people from very different walks of life - rich and poor, Christians and Muslims, wicked and wise."
Guests read the photo stories without referring to the exhibit notes. Photo by Leonard Reyes
Iver Aldas' "Salah - A Muslim Life" captures how for Muslims, Salah or what we normally know as praying is "Life." "They were brought up with the belief that praying is more important than sleep, fasting for Allah is the key to eternal happiness, and Allah first above anything else." Julie Batula's "One-way Out" presents cockfighting, one of the oldest and most popular, though often banned, sports in the world. The fighters cannot stop, no matter how exhausted or injured they become, unless they die. Louise Far's "Off-the-Wall, Of the Four Walls" tackle "a matter of reframing old beliefs to accommodate a variety of options and realize classrooms of possibilities." Her story was shot in the Culianan Learning Center in Zamboanga City, where a peer-led program redefines learning as collaborative work among members of the community. Erik Lacson's "Pasig River Seen" is an ongoing project to document the rehabilitation effort of the 25 km-long body of water that links the Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay. What was once an important trade route and economic lifeline has turned into a huge sewer system. "According to the Philippine Information Agency, an average of 330 tons of industrial and domestic wastes are expelled into the river daily." Bam Luneta's "Kampuhan" is accompanied by less than ten lines of Axel Pinpin's poetry. "Nagaarmas kami ng awit at kape na pinaiinit sa itim na uling na singdilim ng gabi...kami ang unang makakasumpong sa umaga, at paglao'y makakauwi rin."
After seeing the exhibit, it's likely you'll run into a friend and end up staying well past nightfall. Photo by Leonard Reyes
Giselle Montero's "Likhang Lumban" pays homage to the unkown embroiderers and tailors of the regal barong - a showcase of Filipino creativity, simplicity and skill, which is passed on from generation to generation. Neil Monsalud's "Room 36" captures the many emotions and memories he has of a simple space - one he says he will continue to document, events both small and big. "Iba't ibang kaganapan na ang aking nasaksihan at nilahukan - mula sa simpleng inuman at kaarawan hanggang sa proseso ng pagiging brod ng isang recruit." Rommel Rebolido's "Crumpled Dreams, Wrinkled Realities" focuses on the elderly, who play a pivotal role in Filipino society, and whose quality of life depends largely on the family support system. Guests walk around the exhibit, usually not noticing the available blurbs. After a while they spot the notes and flip through them, but it would have been just as well had they not read them and just let the photos tell their stories. After all, in Una, the writings are on the wall, in nine new photo stories. - GMANews.TV Una runs at the Manila Collective in Cubao X until September 8, 2010.
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