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This visit was a bit of a side quest, since I can't really say for certain my parents spent any time at this destination. Earlier this week, my studio assistant & I went on a little excursion to Pindangan Ruins. This is somewhere I'd always seen nearby in my Google Maps, but kept forgetting about it. My studio assistant & I recently went to a pasalubong (souvenir) shop at the San Fernando town plaza that gives out free travel guide booklets. I was reminded again of this destination when I was reading through this helpful travel guide! According to La Union Tayo!, Pindangan was the original name of the City of San Fernando. Pindangan is derived from the Ilokano word pindang, a method of sun-drying & salt preserving meat, referring to San Fernando as a destination heavy in this type of delicacy. Due to its close proximity to the sea, the original church was at constant risk of attacks from foreign invaders (ironic, since I would consider the Spanish foreign invaders themselves). Originally built by Spanish priests in 1764, the church was eventually moved to the town plaza after a couple of other previous relocations, & it is now known as the Cathedral Parish of Saint William the Hermit. However, the ruin site has a Carmelite monastery, which does have its own small church. While this visit isn't directly related to my family's history, it's still part of my study on contemporary San Fernando & integral to its timeline. Being an Ilokana in the Californian diaspora, I'm particularly interested in the parallels between Filipinos & California Natives. We share the same colonisers — both Spain & the so-called United States — & remnants of the Spanish colonial era still exist in both places. As some of you already know, I did a recent photo documentary series on the celebration of the Santo Niño in contemporary Philippines & the diaspora for my project Venerating an Icon, as part of my recent residency at the Minnesota Street Projects in San Francisco. This project is still in-progress, but I'm aiming to tie up loose ends before the end of this year! The project examined a centuries old Spanish icon that is still glorified throughout the islands & diaspora, & I was especially interested in its context within California, another former colony of Spain when it was part of what was known as New Spain. Without further adue, here are some photos from our outing to the Pindangan Ruins. All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens. View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge. 
 My studio assistant getting some practice with composition. :')
My fav easter egg I got to encounter during this visit was finding the kusikus pattern on the door frame of this small chapel (I'm assuming that's what the structure was). The kusikus is very Ilokano-specific & refers to whirlwind patterns found on abel ules, or woven inabel blankets. The kusikus comes in many variations, but this is probably the most popular version of it. Woven on blankets slept with at night, the pattern is intended to confuse & scare off bad spirits. Make sure to enlarge the images to check out that kusikus doorframe! Unfortunately, that was as close as I could get, as the property was fenced off & not accessible.   Some misc bougainvillea compositions. I love the dual juxtapositions of organic & colorful with grey distressed manmade structure. I also recently found out that bougainvillea is the official provincial flower of La Union. I learnt this through the travel guide booklet I picked up at the pasalubong shop, haha.   Being that it is Semana Santa here in the Philippines, you will usually find images of Jesus & crucifixes covered in purple veils. Starting during the Passiontide, or the last two weeks of Lent, they cover Jesus to observe the last days of his life up until his resurrection on Easter, when he is then unveiled. In the Philippines, his unveiling is considered a way of celebrating his resurrection & Easter. The veil is purple to represent royalty, reminding believers that "Christ is King". Just a friendly reminder that I don't believe in any of this shit, LOL. I just find it interesting, so don't come at me!
More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be published in the coming weeks! Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.
If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.
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Earlier this week I went for a short sunset walk in the barangay of Lingsat in San Fernando, La Union. Like I'd previously mentioned, since it's been so hot, I've been trying to plan my photo outings around other errands I have to run, so that I can do photography closer to sunset, when it's less hot & the lighting is immaculate.
It's not technically an errand, more of a luxury, but there's a nail salon I started going to in Lingsat to get my nails done. I've been working on this project so much, I also need breaks & moments to treat myself! We all do. So I headed over to get my nails done first, then walked to a specific street to do some photography. Part of my mom's family history took place in Lingsat, specifically Hufano St. This is the street my older brother grew up on with our cousins early in his childhood, when our mother first immigrated to the US. He would then immigrate 5 years after her. My tita Rebing & manong Ronald both passed away nearly 2 years ago, one after the other... I didn't grow up here, but I also spent a lot of time here, both in childhood & as an adult. I decided to revisit so I could document what's left of this place to me. All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens. View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge. 
Walking down Hufano St felt warm & familiar, until I arrived at my tita's house & it was nearly unrecognisable. I only recognised the property because I remembered it was a corner lot & I remembered what the gate looked like. I was sad to see the small dwellings behind the main house were gone — the lot is now empty. And I know it doesn't make sense to keep since she passed away, but I was also so disappointed to see her sari-sari store gone. I spent so many slow morning's at this store, having breakfast, & hanging out with my nieces & nephews.
More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be published in the coming weeks! Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.
If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments. More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be published in the coming weeks! Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.
Here's some photos from my explorations around San Fernando on foot. These photos took place in the barangays of Catbangen & Tanqui. Not only are these barangays where the Balay da Judge artist residency & Alfredo F. Tadiar library are, they are also former barangays my parents used to live in & spend time in together. Since it's been so hot, I've been trying to plan my outings & errands later in the day, so I can go for a walk & explore after. Here's some interesting compositions & textures I saw during my walks, both early morning & late afternoon. I found that already by 9AM here, the lighting can be quite harsh. For temperature & lighting's sake, 4-6PM has been the sweet spot. All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens. View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge. Around the Plaza & Tanqui
 My parents once lived on Zandueta St. This street crosses the library.  Harsh lighting, but interesting shadows!
My mom said her & my dad once lived in a green house on Zandueta St, near the library. But we only saw one all-green house that looked way too massive for just a couple?! We saw some houses with green breeze block exteriors, but only one house that was actually all-green. Will confirm what exact house in the coming days, but either way, I love breeze blocks & I hate the mint green color, but I'm reminded of Tropikaye's study on #TKColorCooling. Check out the community index on their Instagram or Facebook pages. Despite my dislike for the color itself, this Philippine-specific visual phenomena still fascinates me. La Union Provincial CapitalFun fact: Did you know San Fernando is the capital city of La Union? 
I haven't been up to the capital grounds since 2018, when my older cousin first took me up here. Every time I come back home & he & his kids are not here, it's not the same. But I'll always be reminded of him fondly whenever I visit the kapitolyo or explore around San Fernando. Upon arrival, my studio assistant & I were pleasantly surprised to see that there was a lovely installation of artificial tulips for the spring season! I bet this looks stunning in the evening time. This is a location we will be visiting for my upcoming photo walk workshop, & we will be heading over around the golden hour. Hopefully it will be lit up so we can experience some magic together!
 They also still had Christmas decorations up, but it was still cute. 😅 Later Day ExplorationsNot sure the exact cause, but last week I experienced one of the worst migraines I've ever had. I was laying in my darkened room with the blinds shut. Any light & sound was making my head pound, & it hurt to look at anything. I tried taking an hour nap & woke up feeling worse! Took a cold shower that didn't help either. I took some meds & knocked out for another 5 hours, & that ended up doing the trick. It could have been caused by a combo of lack of sleep (which is not uncommon for me, sadly), heat exhaustion & maybe even dehydration. After a busy week & that migraine spell, Friday came along & I felt entitled to treating myself to a spa day, hehe. I took a tricycle to the spa, then took one back & got off at the town plaza so I could head back to the residence in Catbangen on foot. During my walk around Catbangen, I decided to take some side streets to find a local mini mart. It was closed, but I randomly happened to come across my mom's former high school. I often enjoy taking side streets because they're quieter & sometimes you just find things you wouldn't expect to see, whether they're locations or just cool compositions.
 
Saw this sick tricycle sidecar with flames painted on it. Along with the epic sunset lighting, it's giving Philippine Flavortown aesthetic. 🔥
 I love the juxtaposition of nature with rusty textures & colors. When you think of it, rust is just a chemical reaction that happens naturally when steel or iron corrode from the meeting of oxygen & water.   More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be published in the coming weeks! Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.
If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments. Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the Philippines is a religious season I've always wanted to experience. It is every goth girl's dream, hahaha (just kidding). All jokes aside, it's considered a big deal in the Philippines due to the country's large Catholic demographic. Not only is it very significant here, Semana Santa in the Philippines is particularly known for the senakulo, a gory reenactment of the passion play & death of Jesus. Senakulo comes from the Spanish word cenáculo, which is Spanish for the Cenacle — the Upper Room in Jerusalem where Jesus held the Last Supper. I'm not sure if our province reenacts such a gruesome senakulo performance, but I am both looking forward to finding out & also kind of scared. 😅 I've only ever seen fake gore on TV, not real gore in real life. Kicking off Semana Santa, I went to the local church at the town plaza in San Fernando, less than a 15 minute walk from my studio at the Balay da Judge, to attend an Ilokano mass for Palm Sunday. I knew the streets would be filled with palaspas, or woven palms. Signifying the start of Semana Santa, Filipinos carry their palaspas in hand to observe Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, where he was greeted with folks waving palms at him. While palaspas has its religious connotations, let's also acknowledge the art of palm weaving as a pre-colonial Indigenous practice. Aside from religious purposes, palm weaving is also used to make vessels to cook rice, baskets, fiesta goods & more. This moment feels full circle for me, since before I came back to the Philippines, I produced a palm weaving workshop for Mata Art Gallery in partnership with Artronika, led by teaching artist Diyan Bukobomba. Check out a recap here! All photos below were created with my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens. View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge. 
More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be coming up this week! Make sure to keep checking this space, or follow me on Instagram for updates. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.
If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.
I'm so excited to finally share that I am Alfredo F. Tadiar Library's second Balay da Judge artist-in-residence! While I've spent my first month in the Philippines exploring new places & reconnecting with friends & family, I'm spending my second month on this trip living & working at the Balay da Judge as part of my residency with the library. This residency is notably special to me, because it takes place in La Union, my family's home-province, where we have lived & thrived for generations.
For this residency, I am continuing my ongoing photo documentary project, Somnia Memorias (2018-present), which now consists of 3 different parts (part 3 is still currently in-progres), with the 4th part underway as part of my residency. The 4th part of the series focuses on San Fernando, the capital city of La Union. While my family is originally from San Juan, the neighboring municipality, much of my family has spent time in San Fernando, including my parents. San Fernando is particularly significant to me, because it is the place my parents first lived together as a couple & fell in love. Coincidentally, one of the houses my parents lived in together is on the street that crosses the library. For this project, my goal is to visit & document the barangays my parents used to live & spend time in together in San Fernando. Some of these barangays include Tanqui (where the library & bookshop is located), Catbangen (where the balay is), Ilocanos Norte & Lingsat. This project also attempts to trace back & log part of my family's history. One thing I wish I did more of before my father passed away was ask him more about himself, his family, who they were, where they're from, etc. It took me years to process this & name what it actually was: regret. When my dad passed, another father-less friend reminded me that all I have left is my mother, & to make the effort to talk & ask questions before it's too late. The start of this project has been interviewing my mother, asking about each immediate family member she knew of. Parents, siblings, half-siblings, etc. She only knew one grandparent, but barely knew him. I'm particularly drawn to finding out who he was. Aside from asking her about her immediate family, she's really the last connection I have left to my dad, or at least the last person who knew him the best. Of course I have my siblings, but none of us knew our dad the same way my mom did. By visiting the local places they once spent time in together, I'm hoping to also preserve a piece of contemporary La Union, with a special concentration on San Fernando. In addition to the photo documentary work, I'm also hosting a 2-day photo workshop, where I'll be teaching the basics of photography on day 1, & leading a photo scavenger hunt around the city on day 2! We will announce dates & times soon. Keep an eye out in this space for some digital previews of the work I'll be creating, before I officially process the film in a few months! Thank you to all of you who helped me get here, & thank you to the Artist Resistance Through Solidarity (ARTS) Foundation for partially funding my residency project as well! Kaamulan FestAside from reconnecting with friends & exploring the island, Kaamulan is the main reason why I wanted to come to Mindanao this time! I was really hoping to experience the grand entry & hopefully see some performances or Native games, but we weren't able to this time. Hopefully next time if I'm ever able to visit again! Nonetheless, it was great to connect, experience the art, view how different their art styles are, but also draw connections as well. While the cultures of the Northern & Southern Philippines can greatly vary, I hope people can also realise the similarities we share with our relatives in the south. The Kaamulan Festival is a large month-long cultural gathering of the ethnic tribes of the Bukidnon province in Mindanao. Held in the provincial capital of Malaybalay, it is a special time for the seven tribes to unite. I was told the festival has been going on for a little over 50 years, but some believe it may have been celebrated even farther back. Although I didn't get to experience any music or performances this time, I got to leave the festival dripping in brass jewellery — something I was hoping to leave with. Throughout the Northern & Southern Philippines, brass is used to make musical instruments & accessories. Brass instruments are played for an array of uses such as communication, ceremony, or celebration. As accessories, brass is worn to ward off bad energies & spirits. All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens. The women portrayed below consented to me photographing them. View photos from a computer for the full experience. Click any image below to enlarge. 
Abbey of TransfigurationWe had the unique opportunity to stay at an accommodation in Malaybalay that was near the Abbey of Transfiguration. Nestled among acres of banana & cacao trees, the abbey is a Catholic monastery that has a pyramid-shaped church, as well as a coffee plantation that is farmed, harvested, & roasted by the monks that live in the monastery. Make sure to grab a bag of their Monk's Blend coffee beans at their gift shop! If you are interested in going inside the church, please note that they do have a dress code, just like the Vatican in Rome & now the Basilica de Santo Niño in Cebu. 
   And that concludes my 9-day trip to Mindanao. 9 days was not enough, but I'm so happy & grateful I got to experience it at least once. I hope this is not the last time I will be in Mindanao. I just know there's still so much to see & experience here. And while I know these don't seem like a lot of photos, I was honestly just trying to be there & be immersed in it all.
Eternally grateful to my friend's Nikki & RM for taking the time to show me around Mindanao, & also dealing with some of the unnecessary qualms I came with. 😅 Thank you for everything! Please check out their newest project that is currently underway, Balay Kasamtangan. If you have the means to, please redistribute your wealth & support their one of a kind project! If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments. First, & hopefully not last, trip to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines! Despite several generalisations about Mindanao, I've never been influenced by these misconceptions, & it has always been a place I've wanted to visit. I've always been enamored by their gorgeous art aesthetics, music, culture, & admire them for their colonial resistance. So glad I finally got to visit, esp with the guidance of brilliant creatives & friends, but I hope I'm able to make it back again to further explore the island & culture! Iligan City in the northern Mindanaon province of Lanao Del Norte was the first stop on our 9-day visit. The main languages spoken here are Bisaya, Tagalog, & English is also commonly spoken throughout the islands. Lanao del Norte & the region surrounding Lake Lanao is the ancestral land of the Maranao, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in Mindanao. They are one of the largest Islamic groups in the so-called Philippines. Below are photos of Bai Ming, a Maranao matriarch, who invited me to peek into her world. Her & her family import or create all the goods sold in her shop, Ming's Collection. She consented to me photographing her, & in return I'd love to share about her business! You can find them here on Facebook (if you've got an account), or look them up on Google Maps. All photos below are from my Nikon ZF. Also first time using my Pocket Dispo lens, gifted to me by my friend & photography collague, Noah B! The lens is great & love the softer texture it creates, but it's def not for everything. It was fun to take it out on a spin for the first time on this trip tho, & hopefully I can find some good use out of it again in the future. My film photos from this trip will probably come later this year! View photos from a computer for the full experience. Click any image below to enlarge.  
 
MISC ILIGAN...Here's some more photos exploring Iligan City! Starting with the amazing view from Fat Pauly's. The photo of the lighthouse almost looks like a postcard images & the swirl of the clouds during sunset were unbelievable.
Paseo de SantiagoIf you're into Spanish historic destinations, check out Paseo de Santiago. This park is a paid tourist attraction along the ocean, & is named after Spanish "explorer", Santiago de la Cruz, who is credited for "discovering" the Iligan Bay in the 16th Century. While this is considered a historic destination, I've read that the park itself is a newer tourist attraction. Aside from the park & lush scenery, they also have food vendors, occasionally host events & offer rentals. This park has paid admission & honors senior discounts. 
  
 "LAPU LAPU — He is the first famous person written in our history that bravely and gallantly defended our land and our race against foreign invaders on April 2, 1521 known as the "Battle of Mactan" that resulted to the death of Ferdinand Magellan and the defeat of his Spanish and Portuguese forces." Tambo Public MarketMy mother came with me on this trip to Mindanao this time. I can't stress enough how I'm at the point now where I'm starting to feel like the parent, haha! Anyways, before our trip, she said she hadn't been to Mindanao since the 1970's. And she mentioned one thing she really wanted to bring back to La Union was dried fish, claiming that is a really nice cuisine they have there. My friend was kind enough to bring us to Tambo Public Market, where she was able to buy dried pusit (squid), & other fish. These are typically fried & served with garlic rice, eggs & some sort of veggie side dish for breakfast. 🦑 I'm sure some of you can tell that these interior photos in the market are dark inside. I had to use quite a high ISO. Once bringing them into Lightroom, they were very noisy. I do not recommend Lightroom's AI noise removal tool, as it makes the photos look way too fake. Instead, use the option to manually reduce the noise. They won't be perfect & noise-free, but the tool does help, in moderation.     Beadwork Workshop at Espasyo Creative HUbGot to peel off for a day to take an introductory beadwork workshop at Espasyo Creative Hub. Not only do they occasionally host creative workshops, they also have a restaurant & a storefront where they sell local handmade goods, crafts, art & even some sweet treats hehe. As you can see, the Pocket Dispo lens is not great for close-ups. So that's something to keep in mind when using this lens. It is a lot like a disposable camera in this way! For those of us who are old enough to remember using disposable cameras in our youth... haha!
Jeepneys of IliganSome of you know I'm a public transportation nerd & love riding/exploring on foot/public transit anywhere I go. It was nice to get a break from riding Grab (the Philippines' rideshare service in major cities) & driving, & actually getting to ride around in one of their jeeps! I've only visited 3 Philippine islands so far & have noticed a difference in their jeeps & public transit. The last island I visited last year was Cebu, & I noticed their jeeps were mostly the Japanese models, & tricycles were also bawal (forbidden). In addition to the jeeps in La Union (on the island of Luzon), you see tricycles everywhere & it's actually my favorite way to get around (when not driving — we also don't have Grab in La Union). And in Luzon, our jeeps are mostly Mercedes or BMW (what I like to call the n*zi models, LOL). However, in Mindanao, I noticed their jeepneys were a mix of n*zi models & also the Japanese models (I mostly saw Isuzu & Mitsubishi, & probably others). Here's a few jeeps in motion while getting to ride in one! They also didn't have tricycles, but they had Bajaj 3-wheelers which are typically ridden for shorter distances. Didn't get any photos of any, but you can look them up here, if you're curious. 
Butterflies These photos are all out of sequence, but I wanted to share this image last. After exploring Iligan with friends for the day, they brought me to a malongan, a shop that sells malongs. For a long time, I've been drawn to butterflies, & I immediately spotted a malong with a butterfly pattern. My friend & I both agreed we'd never seen a malong with butterflies on it. Of course I had to get it. After some shopping, we stepped out to end up at the Tubod River (I think this is the one).
Upon stepping out to the river, we noticed a black butterfly landed on my arm & flew away. When my dad passed away years ago, I remember a black butterfly staying on the ceiling above his casket for days during the week-long wake. Not sure exactly who was communicating with me this time, but could feel this was a messenger from the spirit world making sure we were protected on this trip. Part 2 of my Mindanao trip is forthcoming, followed by a special announcement on why I'm in the Philippines again for TWO months! If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments. |
NICA AQUINOIn this space I'll share digital previews of my film photography, updates on new artworks in progress, upcoming programs, inspiration & my other misc interests. Archives
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