Updates
In Tandubas, Tawi-Tawi, photographer Jacob Maentz shoots the geometrical patterns and colors of a Tepo, a mat made from pandan leaves, as well as the Sama-Bajau who diligently weaves it. Photography is a powerful medium. People are drawn to visual things. A good image can tell meaningful and in-depth stories and evoke a response.
I arrived into Iloilo City on a sunny afternoon with my camera bag and a rough plan as to where I would be going. My research gave me some promising leads, but going on a trip like this is always full of unknowns and surprises. Throughout the past four years I have spent a good amount of time traveling around the Philippine archipelago visiting and learning about different indigenous communities. Project Katutubong Filipino is a long term personal project I […]
One week prior to my departure to Tawi-Tawi I received an email from the US Embassy in Manila. “U.S. citizens should continue to defer non-essential travel to the Sulu Archipelago, due to the high threat of kidnapping of international travelers and violence linked to insurgency and terrorism there.” This region of the Philippines never gets good press and honestly has a very negative reputation among most people here in the country. From my own experience, if you mention to a […]
Last month I teamed up with The EXTRA MILE Productions who documented my trip to Tawi-Tawi, the southern most province in the Philippines. This is a place I had always wanted to visit, but because of certain security issues it took some planning to make a trip happen. More than three years on since we started this project on Kickstarter we are still going strong with plans to continue this important work. Thank you to everyone for your continued support […]
Every year in the Cordillera mountains of Luzon a ritual is held to celebrate the end of the rice harvest season. Over a two day period, three barangays gather to give thanks and blessings of post harvest with the celebration culminating in a “punnuk” (tug-of-war) which is held in a river flowing through the heritage rice terraces. Throughout the two day period all processes are performed by a “ritual specialist,” a person ordained specifically to administer the various blessings required. […]
Earlier this month I spent a week getting to know and learn more about the Mansaka people who live in and around Compostela Valley, Mindanao. The Mansaka are just one of a number of indigenous groups living in Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte, but they are the most numerous in the area. I had the kind privileged to spend time with a number of Mansaka families, witnessing life as it is today, both in their more traditional rural communities […]
The Forgotten Ten exhibit came to a close last week after a successful opening and two week showing at the Yuchengco Museum. The exhibit will now move to a number of universities around Metro Manila before the prints are retired to different organizations. We had a lot of support in promoting the event including the Manila Times, Smile Magazine, Rappler, Business World, Choose Philippines and a number of social media sites and blogs (including ferdzdecena, langyaw and pinaytraveljunkie). This really […]
After many months of preparation we can finally announce the details of our first photography exhibition this coming January in Manila. We are very excited for the event and hope that everyone interested in the project from the Metro Manila area will come join us. Please help us spread the word so we will have a good showing and continue to get our message out. You can also join the event page we created on Facebook as a way to […]
Three weeks in the Cordilleras of Luzon and I feel like I have only scratched the surface of experiencing the rich cultures that make up the Igorot people. This is a common trend I have experienced while working on the Katutubong Filipino Project and one reason I hope to extended the project longer term, perhaps for another three years. More time is needed. This is especially true when trying to tell the story of the Igorot people who live in […]
Last month I made a long awaited trip to the island of Mindoro to visit some of the different Mangyan groups there. This trip took a few months to arrange and I was very excited our journey happened as I have been wanting to visit Mindoro for a long time. Although, we knew it would not be easy to get access to the different communities we wanted to visit, our contacts and non-stop effort explaining and promoting the Katutubong Filipino […]