June 2010

Not so many photographs taken during June.

With the ending of tropical summer and the start of the rainy season, the weather started to take on an autumnal feeling, at least when one looked out of the window. Stepping outside into the heat and humidity quickly brought back that tropical feeling.

May 2010

Cicada hunting

It may seem like I've been neglecting the project but in reality it's just the blog that hasn't been getting the attention.

through May i spent time trying to get photos of the cicadas in the acacia trees. As a result I have a lot of close-up photos of acacia trees.

Cicadas became the big feature of the month as they really started to sing. so much so that sometimes I wondered if I had tinnitus.

April 2010

A little delayed in posting this.

April has been about the summer weather. Summer comes early here running from approximately the vernal equinox to the June solstice. And that means hot weather and intense sun. Sun of an intensity I've not experienced anywhere else. This shot is actually from one of the rare cloudy days, which gave me half a chance to actually capture the sun.

March 2010

A simple subject - the evening light coming through the hallway curtains as projected onto the wall. As the evening draws in, there are a whole range of these interesting shadow patterns cast on various walls and surfaces in the house. It is a reflection of the particular quality of light that seems to abound here at this time. Something like late evening light in a n European summer, except much earlier in the year and at an earlier time of day - this was shot at about 4pm.

A new view of light

It may seem I've been neglecting this series but in fact I've just been neglecting blogging in general. march was a pretty quiet month, photographically. What has happened, though, is the slightly longer days have meant a move in the sun's position and a whole new sort of light around the place. just that extra half hour or so each end of the day seems to make quite a difference. Here are a few from around the place.

February 2010

Life in the village.

For February a good part of my time has been getting to know how life in the village works. Utilities, services, driving etc. Small practicalities. This one picture of one corner brings so much of that daily life into a single frame.

Immediate surroundings

After unpacking the boxes, it's been time to put effort into exploring the neighbourhood. The daily run to work follows a fairly short path which gives some hints as to the activities that go on every day. I shall need to spend some time exploring that more.

It also gives something of a view of the places people live, and how they make them their own.

January 2010

January has all been about moving house, coming from the outside and stepping through the door to settle into a new life.

Creating a home

After the process of unpacking comes the task on creating a home, putting my personal stamp on the place that makes it feel like mine. urniture was arranged, pictures went up, spaces got cleared and organised.

Endless trips to the hardware store for stuff, especially electrical as I move from 50Hz to 60Hz. Small details that are essential to live comfortably. One of the things that seems to happen with this much moving is the recreation of many of the same circumstances as before - a taste of the familiar in unfamiliar surroundings. Furniture arranged similarly, the same pictures on the walls, in the same rooms.

And yet among all that, the space is very different - now 2 storeys, more rooms, hard floors. A house rather than an apartment. Air conditioning in place of heating.

Deep in moving

This is a post for January, delayed due to the fact I was deep in unpacking boxes for much of the month. Moving - a time-consuming exercise in discovering your past. the boxes had a tag line on them: "Mobility made easy". A great lie in this game. there is nothing easy about international mobility. It takes months of your life and many hours of time spent packing, unpacking, organising and arranging. And here I am several weeks later and I'm still not completely unpacked.


But I now have the house turned into a home, and that's a step forward.

December 2009

Pretty much sums up the contradictions of Christmas in The Philippines - the mixture of the tropical and the temperate. Some how the spruce Christmas trees & images of white winter feel completely out of place in the warm, sunny weather.

Christmas preparations

Christmas is an important time in the Philippines. As a largely Catholic country, with a strong tradition of family ties, it is almost inevitable that this would be a big celebration. Apparently preparations started late this year - well into November - due to the aftermath of the typhoons that blew through here (plenty of evidence of that around).

Further to that, there is a strong trend to adopting American culture, especially the more consumerist and commercial: malls and fast food. Christmas music everywhere - "White Christmas", "Winter Wonderland", carols of the European tradition. Coupled with that, lights and decorations everywhere, and Christmas trees. Spruce is rather out of place among the palms. The whole thing is rather incongruous wrong time of year (far too early for me) and all the attributes of Christmas in Northern, wintry climes. Except this is the tropics, sun is out every day and the temperature is up in the 30s C. Snow and sleigh bells don't fit.

November 2009

For each month I'll post my selection for the final project. The aim being the image that sums up my impressions from that month. Selections get their own post label, too.

In this instance I've chosen this one because it is the mix of the commercial and tropical that sums up my first impressions of my new home.

Living in a bubble

My first few weeks have been rather constrained. Early days at work, living in a hotel, no car and weather non-conducive to long walks. So I've tried to explore the small region as much as possible, taking some photos. My early environment is a largely commercial area, with affluent residential zones around, far from the "true" Philippines one sees on the news or in the papers. Will I be destined to spend my time here in comfortable isolation, living a life of relative privilege?


Time will come that I will be able to get out a travel around the country but for now it feels like I'm in a bubble.

First impressions

An important part of this project is to gather my impressions from the very first. On first arriving in Manila, I was immediately drawn to thinking of comparisons with India and Mexico. The Philippines seem a whole lot less confusing on first impression, which may have been a reflection on arriving on a Sunday. Very little traffic, less people milling around the airport than I've seen at other major international airports. Everything seems clean and organised. It's hot, but a lot less humid than I was expecting, which makes the climate bearable.

No photographs at the airport - not something I've ever done. I get in and all I want to do is complete the journey and get to where I'm staying.


It also makes me realise how important time of day and jet lag can impact first impressions. I remember arriving in Mexico in the middle of the night after a long, long trip. Delhi was crazy hot and humid, busy, noisy, smelly. Manila was a pleasure by comparison.

Whisked along the main highway south to the commercial centre of Muntinlupa, to a nice hotel, gave me little time to see the real Manila.