images from 2003

April 26, 2003: Laguna Province, Manila Philippines

Olympus E-10, 1/160s f/3.2 at 27.0mm iso80 with Flash

While printing images this week I began going back through the original files from my very first trip to Philippines in April 2003, hoping to remember the exact location of the very first shoot I did with the local kids & their Families who so warmly welcomed me that day, as I very much want to locate them and gift them their prints, and thank them for introducing me to street-shooting in Philippines.

One of the strongest images I've ever taken there is the image below of the girls in the Jeepney; it's always been a huge favorite of mine, and one of my more popular photographs.

The image ABOVE (previously unpublished) was taken after the local boys had decided that the girls in the Jeepney image had taken too much of my time, and the boys wanted their own face-time, so the boys piled into the same Jeep and wanted their pictures taken as well - and I just found this image of them that made me smile.

What struck me however, were the markings on the Jeep (in another frame) that I'd never noticed before - a hand-lettered banner that listed the ROUTE of the Jeep as Santa Cruz, and I was amazed I'd never noticed it before, as now I have a landmark of sorts, to go back to and begin my search for the Families!

I'd never been able to remember exactly where in Laguna I was for that day (I didn't drive the route, we were driven by a friend of mine who I can't locate anymore), and now I had at least something to go on when I arrive back in Manila later this coming November 2007, so needless to say I'm very excited about trying to see these kids and their Families again, 4.5 years later - I have enough prints from that shoot that show their Parents, Uncles, Aunts, etc in the frames, so I'm hopeful someone close to where I'd visited can possibly ID some of them.

The image from April 26, 2003 that started it all for me, is also offered in print:

Olympus E-10, 1/125s f/4.0 at 9.0mm iso80

On the subject of printing, the images below are thumbnails of some images that will be available as 8x10's & 5x7's matted & framed, with proceeds going for consumables (50kg. sacks of rice, meals, food & clothing) for the Families we all help support in Manila & Cebu.

...and more to follow...

I'm trying to get all the thumbnails done by tomorrow, so Steve Griffith can assemble a new Print Banner on the right side of the main page here.

Many Thanks for reading today,
PJAMES