PHOTOgeoGRAPHY

This photo of me with my boyfriend was taken in Harrison Road in Baguio City last December. Every night, when the clock strikes 9, the road is closed and the shopping begins. This night market is quite popular in Baguio. Even tourists include this place in their itineraries. It is where one can find very cheap pre-loved items also known as “ukay-ukay” and Baguio souvenirs. There are also some food carts at both ends of the road that are strategically placed for shoppers who want to have snacks after haggling with the vendors in a middle of a crowded street. Harrison Road had been one of my memorable places ever since I studied in Baguio for a year. Even though my friends and I used to visit the place every now and then to shop for “new” outfits or even just to hang out, this place is still a symbolic landscape for me. Shopping here was one of our ways to relieve stress after a day or a week of solving math problems, writing papers and reviewing for the exams. Every time that this place is mentioned, a lot of feelings evoke as I become nostalgic about the place. It gives me the feeling of pleasure in strolling in a crowded yet cool street with the people that I enjoy company with and buying a lot stuff that I want for less than a thousand pesos. It has produced its sense of place in me.

These photos are taken at the parking area of a Shakey’s branch while I was waiting inside the car. It is a picture of a child eating leftovers given to him by the customers just outside the restaurant itself. This photo gives a good image of one of the negative effects of globalization. As international companies invade the world, the gap between the rich and the poor accentuates. While some of us are capable and willing to spend a couple of hundreds of pesos for a single meal, there are people out there like this child who is not even sure if he would be able to eat anything in his day – people who despite the overall economic growth of the country are deprived with the nutrients they need just because of poverty.

This is a photo of the lounge of my home college, Asian Institute of Tourism. Like any other colleges in UP, our lounge is a place where the students hang out during class breaks, eat lunch and do other activities. It also has certain areas where different groups of people, student organizations to be specific, have marked their territories. Well actually, the student council together with the different orgs decide how big and where their tambayans will be.

It is evident that there is a sense of making bubbles in this kind of setting; and as expected, everyone tries to respect those bubbles. Yes, people say that everyone is welcome to hang out in their tambayans but in reality, if some stranger just sit on the couch of a tambayan without asking permission, some members of the organization would feel awkward. Org tambayans are also being social markers in a way. Different organizations have different images or reputations that somehow define what kind of orgs they are (stereotypes like “party org” and “GC org” (grade-conscious) are some of these image), and just by hanging around the tambayans of the orgs people are already judged even if they are not actually part of those organizations. For instance, when a freshie sits on the coach of a “gc org”, some may judge her and say “GC pala siya? Wala sa itsura niya” even if he is really not affiliated with that org.

This is a wacky photo of me with some of my best friends at Bonifacio High Street. Being less than an hour away from our place, my friends and I would always hang out in the area. We would always make sudden meet up and go here to grab some tea or coffee and talk about anything, from who is in relationship with this heartthrob to what are our goals in life. I personally think that I have developed topophilia in this place because it always reminds me of the bond that my best friends and I have. It reminds me of the how warm their company is and how easy life can be. Every time we hang out in this place, I feel like all the stresses from school and other things have flown away and the last think I wanted to do is to go home.