January 2008 Archives

2 adorable kids on the street in Metro Manila - unfortunately they've been left to fend for themselves
and when they approached Kevin & myself, we immediately noticed the reeking smell of paint thinner or glue; they were both sky high and were gurning & acting up, etc.

Still Kev & I were nice to them when they wanted their pictures taken - all the while we just kept thinking how children like these two can be blatantly left on their own; absorbed into the street drug culture at such a young age.

Kevin & I are now in Cebu, and we're off to see Lisa & LetLet's Family.

Thanks for reading today,
PJAMES

shooting notes: very difficult having to shoot in poor light at iso1600 but even hand held I got a decent capture; Kevin's been using the onboard flash with his new Fuji SLR, but I'm not fond of using a flash roaming around at night, as it makes my images look way too clean for the raw impulse of what I'm trying to capture here.

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/8s f/2.8 at 14.0mm iso1600

Jan.25, 2008: Manila Philippines - Ricardo & Malou photographed in Metro Manila at Ana's Sari-Sari store.


Just after 12noon I went to Ana's store, and Malou who sleeps on the street (and who's image is in the Christmas Greeting post from December 2007) came barreling into the store, saying "I need dis & dat..." and grabbing at the dry goods on the shelf; canned fish, crackers, condensed milk and more - and she wanted me to pay for it.

The only thing that bothered me about Malou was that she was very high on glue/paint thinner - just like the street kids in the above post, she smelled strongly of it and was a little aggressive, so I told her "Malou I'll buy you some food...choose what you need"

She did, I paid P240 - and she remembered to say Thank You.

Even when she was ripping high, she was completely polite to me.

Later that day, Ana's Momma told me how the Social Services Dept. in Manila had taken MJ - her little daughter away, and placed her somewhere in a shelter.
...MJ's picture is also in the Christmas Greeting post from Dec.2007 - she's a beautiful child and everyone is sad that she's been taken away.

PJAMES

Jan.25, 2008: Kevin Weir & Shelia with Rob: photographed in Manila at Ana's place in the abandoned building Rosa used to live in.
(from lower left: Shelia, Ana, Kevin, Momma Myra & daughter Rowena (Rob sitting on the right with Ana's brother Melvin)

The middle image is Ana, MayAnne & Melvin when we went down to Baywalk Jan.25th to watch the sunset with the rest of the Family, after I spent the entire day with them at home, and after I took all the kids including Rosa & her little sister Zira to lunch at Macdonald's in Robinsons Mall (they absolutely loved it and got to eat a ton of hamburgers,  french fries, fried chicken & lots of rice)

Kevin & Rob arrived in Manila same day I did, and we all went out looking for Rosa at 10pm as Shelia brought her gifts of nice clothing, but this was a rare night Rosa & Edison were not sent out street begging by their Mother, and so we didn't see them - but we did get a chance to shoot together which was enjoyable for me, and a change of pace at the same time, as I don't shoot here with any other photograhers - but it was very cool as Kev & Rob got to meet the people I've shot here, and he recognized them all as soon as he saw Ana, MayAnne, even DonnieBoy on the street as he ran over to us.

more tomorrow...
PJAMES

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/500s f/5 at 54.0mm iso200
Hong Kong International Airport

This past week has been the most hectic ever, with trying to empty my Fathers house, pack my own gear and begin the long trip back to Manila & Cebu, all the while not having any time for Steve Griffith's tutorial on navigating through the new MoveableType4 software that he's been installing on the blog, etc. etc.

I'll be visiting the Families, shooting & editing, setting up the mobile office/breaking down & packing the mobile office, etc. as the journey begins again...

Thanks for reading and for keeping the Faith,
PJAMES

FYI: In an effort to get the website back into a functional state while Steve Griffith troubleshoots the instalation of MoveableType4 (the software that ran pRice on its previous host) on my host provider, Steve has suggested that I email him my content for him to post - so that's what we'll do until MT4 is functional.

Thanks for reading today, and for the encouraging emails.

PJAMES

In Edna's last post below, just before the Holiday Season she began working at a small, back alley coffee shop for P70 a day, and when I saw her in November 2007 I went right over to her to let her know how proud of her I was; I was absolutey elated - she is one of the precious few homeless who are successfull at finding a job.

But she was in the middle of her work day & her boss was there so I didn't want to distract her, and she did tell me she was still sleeping on the street, but she was smiling so big from the encouragement, and managed a smile after I shot her image later that night at 5:31pm as I was walking back through the small side street she sleeps on.

I'll be sure to see her again in Manila next week and get more updates.

God Bless you Edna.

PJAMES

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/5s f/2.8 at 14.0mm iso800