Photographic works of 30 professional photographers, mostly
Filipinos, form the core of the Not Visual Noise exhibition at the
Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University. It runs until 29
March 2020.
It spans a diverse range of subject matter such as migration, family,
folk religion, travel, material objects, work, extrajudicial killing,
loss, destruction, and memories. Representing a wide range of
photographic practice and its nuances, it includes photojournalism,
long-form documentary as well as conceptual photography,
photography-based media installation, and projects based on the web
and social media.
Angel Velasco Shaw, the guest curator, notes that the selected photographers are essentially documentarians, “of their interests, aesthetic and social concerns, and of the times in which they live — merging the/ir past and present” through the medium of photography
Beyond Two Dimension
Nap Jamir (b.1952) explores his “photographic journey’s
expanding parameters” in
Nap Jamir. Underbelly (Window), 2019.
Underbelly Window 1, 2, and 3 (2019), three works of wooden window
frames with glass jalousies, video monitor, and photo collage. In
Fragments, a large-scale photograph is ripped apart and layered with
another one, bending and curling, to form a new three-dimensional
collage. A cinematographer and a director for film and television,
Jamir teaches at the UP College of Fine Arts and UP Film Institute.
Kidlat de Guia (b. 1975) weaves strips of cut, pasted, or sliced
photographs to form layers of images, made hidden or visible in its
warp and weft, as seen in Manong 1,2, and 3 (2015).
Veejay Villafranca (b. 1982) focuses on folk Catholicism, faith
healing rituals, and the infamous psychic healers of Baguio, in
Barrio Sagrado: Living with Religiosity and Catholicism in the
Philippines. He received the 2008 Ian Parry Scholarship Grant, London
on his work on gang members in Baseco, Manila. The first Filipino to
be selected in the 2013 Joop Swart Masterclass program in Amsterdam,
he is now the Manila correspondent for the Getty Images Global
Assignments.
Wawi Navarroza (b. 1979) displays a darkroom installation and
photographic assemblage with video, By Silver, By Light (2019) in
honor of her grandfather, Cristituto Navarroza Sr, a photographer in
a small town in Bato, Leyte. The work anchors a cluster of black-and
white-photographs that represent an archive of her grandfather’s
works between 1940s to the 1970s. Navarroza’s awards include the
Asian Council Scholarship Grant New York, CCP’s Thirteen Artists
Awards, and the Sovereign Art Prize 2018.
Geloy Concepcion (b. 1992) offers a visual journal of immigration in
the San Francisco Bay Area, as seen through his young family’s daily
experience of settling in, replicated by so many others in pursuit of
the American Dream. (Sanctuario, 2019). A fine arts graduate of the
University of Santo Tomas, his awards include the 2017 Human Rights
and Arts Festival and the 2016 Pride Photo Awards (Reyna de las
Flores: Manila’s Golden Gays).
Nana Buxani. Hazel Arado, Welder/ Assembler, 2018.
Nana Buxani (b. 1966) observes a day in the life of Hazel Arado,
Welder/Assembler (2018), a woman in a non-traditional job of welding,
and still responsible for cooking and taking care of her children,
all in a day’s work.
MM Yu. Subject/Object (2001-2019).
MM Yu (b. 1978) presents a densely packed mixed media collection of
objects inside artist studios in Subject/Object (2001-2019). It
chronicles “the surrounding context in which a work is
perceived, identified, situated, and produced.” Mari Kondo may
frown, but such organized chaos has provided inspiration and
motivation for many artists.
Tommy Hafalla. Mambunong, 1981.
Tommy Hafalla (b. 1957) captures the life and rituals of the peoples
of the Cordilleras from 1981 to 2011. Ili, his collection of
photographs, was published in 2018. He received the CCP’s Thirteen
Artists Awards in 1992 and the 2009 Humanity Photo Awards for his
work Cliff Hanger: Death Rite about the cliff burials of Sagada.
“The Nightcrawlers”
Working through the night, three photojournalists document Duterte’s
drug war, extrajudicial killings, and its consequences.
Ezra Acayan (b. 1993) records Duterte’s Fake War and works on social
issues and human rights. In 2018, he received the Ian Parry
Scholarship Award for Achievement for his series, Duterte’s War On
Drugs Is Not Over, and the Lucie Foundation Photo Taken Emerging
Scholarship as well as the Young Photographer of the Year at the
Istanbul Photo Awards.
Raffy Lerma. Families of EJK victims in a SONA protest, 2018.
Raffy Lerma (b. 1978) shares his works, Inhuman. A former
photographer for the Daily Inquirer, he took the well-known “Pieta”
photo showing the lifeless body of Michael Siaron cradled by his
weeping partner in 2016.
Carlo Gabuco (b. 1981) depicts The Other Side of Town (2016-2019). A
fine arts graduate of the Philippine Women’s University, he was the
photojournalist for Rappler’s Impunity Series with writer Patricia
Evangelista. They won the top prize for the English multimedia
category of the Human Rights Press Awards in 2017.
Beyond the obsessive-compulsive banality of taking selfies, the
exhibition’s strength lies on the critical eye of photographers who
dare to look closer, to look beyond. And to tell compelling
narratives through images by “drawing with light.”