Year of the Dragon

Here's to more traveling, more art and photography, and to an exciting and meaningful year ahead. Happy New Year! Welcome to Year 2012!

Jo
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tree duty

And here I am again, putting up our online Christmas tree.

Happy holidays dear.

Jordan
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*One of the numerous Christmas trees at Trinoma, with one of the numerous kids running around that mall this time of the year.

Bittersweet

True, GMA's arrest is something to celebrate, even though she should be held in an ordinary prison and not given special treatment. Many still are keen to celebrate the impending arrest of General Palparan, the notorious human rights violator who is currently the subject of a manhunt for the abduction and torture of 2 missing UP students, Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.

When the "Berdugo" is finally behind bars, perhaps justice will be served for the hundreds of victims of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other abuses suffered under his reign of terror. It'll be a bittersweet celebration, though, as many continue to search for their loved ones, activists are thrown in jail on false charges, and extrajudicial killings still persist, even under the current Aquino administration.

Jo
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*Photos taken during "Poldet: Panata sa Kalayaan ng mga Detenido Politikal," a cultural presentation about political prisoners and the struggle for freedom in the Philippines.

celebrate

I, for one, think that a few people celebrated Human Rights Day earlier, with GMA finally being detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center last Friday, in lieu of the election fraud charges leveled against her.

When I was visiting Veterans last July, I saw these festival pasabits outside one room, and wondered what they were for. Now, I would like to believe that these were decorations placed five months early in celebration of GMA now being there.

Jordan
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Burdens of injustice

Art is indeed for everyone. It strikes at our collective conscience, depicting the realities of human rights abuses through imagery, words, and performance. Too often, though, when artists are dissatisfied with the status-quo and clamor for freedom and justice, they are attacked and imprisoned by the powers-that-be. One such artist is Ericson Acosta, who has been in jail for nearly 11 months on trumped-up charges, has endured torture by the military, and is now several days into a hunger strike.

Photographers, as well, have been harassed and attacked for covering protest rallies and documenting human rights violations. Photographers have also lost their lives for revealing truths that gun-wielding forces want hidden.

On this International Human Rights Day, we're reminded that impunity continues to reign in the Philippines and elsewhere. Art reminds us, too, that these burdens of injustice weigh heavy on our society and reflect on all of us.

Jo
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*Performance artist Terence Tey Krishna Lopez outside the Commission on Human Rights, as families and supporters protested the illegal detention and torture of the "Morong 43" health workers held in a military camp.

let's see...

For everyone I guess. We all need it. Whether we're aware of it or not. It's like rain. Sometimes we like it, sometimes we don't. Regardless, it will always be there.

Jordan
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*Kid's hand checking if it is still raining while on the road.

For whom?

Just a question to consider.

Jo
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*Outside "Le Petit Artisan". Taking off from an idea that you had for a shot.

And...

Boo!

Sorry. I just realized I didn't get to post a scary photo when Halloween came. I was supposed to, when you posted your All Souls' Day photos, but I got distracted.

You were saying?

Jordan
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*Jack Nicholson poster (I think) at B Side, The Collective.

Life as it is*

Through photography, I interpret life as it is and realize that creating images is not as simple as it seems. Every choice made reveals who we are as image makers, our views and biases, and how we respond to life around us. I'm becoming more aware of the limitations and dangers of photography, how trust is built and can be misused, and how photos are only glimpses, through the photographer's eye, of what the truth may or may not be. For more often than not, there's much beyond the image that needs to be explored.

Jo
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*This title is lifted from a comment to my photo left by Jani, a friend on Flickr. The photo was taken behind a canteen near the site of the recent PCP workshop at the FSC Forest Complex, Subic Bay.