Pioneers of photography in the Philippines

The pioneers of photography in the Philippines were Western photographers, mostly from Europe. The practice of taking photographs and the opening of the first photo studios in Spanish Philippines, from the 1840s to the 1890s, were driven by the following reasons: photographs were used as a medium of news and information about the colony, as a tool for tourism, as an instrument for anthropology, as a means for asserting social status, as an implement for historical documentation, as a device for communication, as materials for propaganda, and as a source of ideas for illustrations and engravings. The practice of photography in the Philippines was not without the influence and influx of Western-art concepts into the colonized archipelago. [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_22_ingles.pdf Guardiola, Juan. The Philippine Imaginary, Sociedad Española de Acción Cultural en el Exterior (SEACEX), Casa Asia and Seacex.es (undated)] , retrieved on: August 11, 2007]

panish era

Commercial photography

The beginnings of photography in the Philippines date back to the year 1840 when two preserved photographs of Intramuros, Manila and a photographer named W. W. Wood, respectively, were taken. The first written record of the employ of photography in the Philippines, however, was mentioned in an 1843 book written by a Spaniard traveler, diplomat and poet, Sinibaldo de Mas. It is believed that de Mas used a daguerreotype camera in 1841. The use of photography became more common in Manila and the rest of the Philippines from the year 1860 onwards. Although it is believed that the first photography studios were opened in the Philippines in the 1850s, the first known actively operational photo studio was that of the British photographer Albert Honnis. Recognized as a resident photographer in the Philippines since 1865 through the 1870s, Honnis was a popular producer of commercial “visiting cards” and “aesthetic” picture portraits. Honnis’ assignment as a commissioned photographer of the Russell & Sturgis Company, a prominent sugar-cane corporation of the time, enabled him to compile panoramic photographs of Spanish Manila and the Pasig River ("Vistas de Manila", or Views of Manila). Other pioneers of the photography business in the Philippines – apart from Sinibaldo de Mas and W. W. Wood – were a Dutch photographer named Francisco van Camp, Manuel Maidin, Pedro Picón, a German photographer named Enrique Schüren, C. Bonifás, E. M. Barretto, Francisco Pertierra, Manuel Arias Rodriquez, L. González, and an American photographer named Dean Conant Worcester.

Landscape photography

The first evidence of the use of photography about Philippine panorama as the bases for illustrations in printed publications, such as magazines and travel guides, was an 1875 book authored by the German photographer, Feodor Jagor. Translated into Spanish, Jagor’s "Reisen in der Philippinen", was considered as one of the best travel books that recounted his Philippine journeys in 1859 and in 1860.

News, history and nature through cameras

Provincial and missionary life

Everyday life of early Filipinos and foreign missionaries were epitomized in the "Provincia de Cagayan" (Cagayan Province), an album lodged at Madrid’s "Museo Nacional de Antropología" (National Museum of Anthropolgy). The album, believed to have been published between 1874 and 1880, documented 19th century tobacco farming methods in Luzon. There were also photographs depicting local customs, pastimes and traditions.

Despite of the difficulty in imposing Spanish dominion over Islamic Mindanao, Spaniards were able to produce the albums "Recuerdos de Mindanao" (Memories of Mindanao) and the 1892 "Vistas de las poblaciones de Cottabato, Rio Grande de Mindanao, Joló, Liangan, Monungam,… y de tipos indigenas, asi como de tropas españolas en Filipinas" (Views of the towns of Cotabato, River Grande in Mindanao, Jolo, Liangan, Monungam, and of indigenous types, as well as of Spanish troops in the Philippines). These pictures were able to illustrate Mindanao landscapes, sultanate settlements, and the living situations of Filipino Muslims and Spanish soldiers and missionaries.

Natural disasters

Photography in 19th century Philippines also preserved visual records of the callous living conditions in the tropics. The existence of cameras and photographers, both professionals and amateurs, confirmed the reality of natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, cyclones, monsoon rains, volcanic eruptions and forest fires in the Philippines. The aftermath of an 1863 earthquake was witnessed and recorded by Martinez Hébert, a photographer of the Spanish Royal Household, while the devastation caused by the seismic activities that occurred on July 14, 18, 20 and 22, 1880 were captured by the lenses of the Dutch photographer, Francisco van Camp.

Industrialization

Status of public works in the Philippines were catalogued in the 1887 album, "Obras del Puerto de Manila" (Works of Manila Harbor) and in an 1896 book published by the Board of Manila Harbor. Operational and under-construction lighthouses spanning the years 1889-1893 in the Philippines were also catalogued in the "Obras públicas: Faros" (Public Works: Lighthouses) by Madrid’s Archive of the Royal Palace.

Relationship to anthropology

The invention of photographs lessened the need for anthropologists to travel to places such as the Philippines for the sake of their work. Photographs became one of the important secondary sources of anthropologists for their case studies. However, despite of the advantage, this photography business also created the tendency of photographers and the anthropologist themselves to manipulate their pictures and subjects such as employing staged scenes for scientific ends. Another accompanying problem of this “manipulation” would be the installation of stereotype human beings into the psyche of Western scientific groups. And also the tendency to produce “voyeuristic” specimens as evidenced by the great number of native women with exposed upper bodies.

First Filipino photographer

One of the first photographers of Filipino nationality was Félix Laureano. His pictorial compositions, such as "En el baño" (In the Bathroom) and "Cuadrilleros" (Laborers), focused on human forms, cockfights and bullfights in the Philippines. He also became the first photographer to publish a book of photographs about the Philippines ("Recuerdos de Filipinas", or Memories of the Philippines) in Barcelona in 1895. Laureano was also regarded as “the first Filipino artist to consciously use photography as a medium for art”.

American era

The Thomasites

After the Spanish-American War, the Philippines was ceded to the United States. Photographing the Philippines was continued by Americans, such as soldiers and the Thomasites. One Thomasite who took pictures of early twentieth century Philippines was Philinda Rand. During her tenure as an English-language teacher in the Philippines, Rand took photographs that show many aspects of Filipino life in Silay and Lingayen where she resided. Her pictures included people, students, missionaries, buildings, animals, and sceneries from 1901 to 1907. [http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~sch00428 Anglemyer, Philinda Parsons Rand, 1876-1972. Papers, 1901-1909: A Finding Aid, Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America] , Call No. 86-M74--86-M130, Repository: [http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles/ Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute; These papers of Philinda Parsons (Rand) Anglemyer were given to the Schlesinger Library by her daughters, Katharine and Mary Anglemyer, in May and July 1986), Radcliffe College, July 1986] , retrieved on: August 11, 2007]

References

ee also

*Philippine history
*History and preservation of 19th century photography
*PinoyCentric

External links

* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_04_foto.pdf Philippine portraits (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_03_imagen.pdf Colonial Philippines photographs (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_05_paisaje.pdf Philippine panorama photographs (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es)
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_06_manila.pdf Manila and disaster photographs (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es)
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_07_calors.pdf Buildings and other views (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_08_vida.pdf Provincial life images (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_09_problema.pdf Mindanao images (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_10_antro.pdf Anthropology-related images (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_11_imperio.pdf Structures, interiors and people (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_12_educacion.pdf Philippine schools images (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_13_identidad.pdf Individual and group portraits (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_14_motin.pdf More panoramas and portraits (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_15_revolucion.pdf Philippine revolution images (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es
* [http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_16_1898.pdf 1898 in pictures (Spanish era)] at Seacex.es