Street Shooting, Feb. 2005

Feb. 4, 2005: Cebu Philippines

One of the street children close to where I stay there in Cebu; they stay out most of the night playing with each other & keeping each other safe.

Around 9pm, I left my house with Jhie and wanted to go up the street to Julie's Bakeshop for some of their nice sweetbreads, and this child & her friends were right out in front of the Bakeshop too when we got there - they play on the street, right in front of the store.

Jhie & I sat down on the sidewalk with our baked goods, and I have a little rule I abide by when I'm out: "if you're with me, or around me when I'm out to eat - and you're hungry...then you eat with me."

I asked Jhie if she thought the group of 4 kids would like some baluut from the vendor on our sidewalk, and she thought they might like some.

So I called this child over and asked her the same, and told her it was ok to go over & select her baluut; Jhie gathered the others around & told them the same, and they hesitated at first...but this little girl just smiled and went right over and got her warm baluut egg, and enjoyed it with us, sitting on the street curb.

The other kids did the same, and with the smiles on their faces, you thought they were opening presents on Christmas day.

All of us had a wonderfull time that night, and I'm glad I brought the camera.

The image is terrible from a technical perspective; I had to shoot iso1600 with lots of digital noise, and tried my best with a 1/15 sec slow shutter speed, but there was a warm glow about the street that night, and something special about her little smile & bright eyes.

PJAMES