Not wanting to make him wait for me for too long, I stood up from the bed and put on my clothes. Took my digital camera with me and went down to the apartment's lobby. Yes, without taking a bath. Anyways, we were going to a cemetery for a photo hunting session. How neat must I look, right?
It was not long until we were in the car on our way to the cemetery. Got lost along the way, but we finally found what we were looking for. The first cemetery we visited was a Chinese cemetery. Something that you must know when visualizing this Chinese cemetery is that it was not just a big lot/space allocated for burials, but the place looks more like a real estate. There were roads big enough for cars to pass by. It also seems that the Philippino chinese have a sense of grandeur, for they do not bury their dead in a mere grave, but they inter them in tombs large enough to be houses. One family even buried their loved one and erected a more-or-less 10 meters monumental tower on top of the grave.
It was the perfect day, and the perfect time of day. That early Saturday morning provided us with an almost clear blue sky with only a hint of cloud, which helped set the mood to a sort of ethereal calm. Quite a fitting atmosphere for a resting place under the blue sky.
We managed to take some pictures from the Chinese cemetery. We didn't stay there for long, however, since the leader of the group, HL, were more interested in taking pictures of people. And to find more people (alive, that is), the Chinese cemetery was not the right place since it was too quiet and there were not many people lingering there except for a few morning joggers and some tomb caretakers. These pictures below are those that I managed to snap before moving on to the other cemetery.
...A Sense of Grandeur ...(one of the tombs in the Chinese Cemetery)
...Angel of Dawn...
(A Statue of an Angel on top of one of the tombs)
...Watching Over Those Who Rests...(the more-or-less 10 meter monumental tower-slash-tomb)
...Spirit Cloud Rising Up to Heaven...
(Damn it was a really calm and beautiful morning, with a beautiful blue sky and only a small hint of clouds...)
It was not a long drive to get to the other cemetery (which name was Manila North Cemetery, if I'm not mistaken...have to confirm this). It was practically next door. Manila North(?) was a much bigger cemetery, however it did not have the same sense of grandeur and not as aesthetically pleasing as the Chinese cemetery. While Chinese cemetery had more tombs, Manila North had mostly graves instead of tombs. And the tombs in Manila North were not as big and grand as the ones we found in the Chinese cemetery. However, it was here that I found out why HL preferred to go there instead of the Chinese cemetery.
There were more people there. They're not mourners, they didn't go there to pay a visit to the dead. They were there because they live there. They were the homeless. During my visit there, this was one of the prominent musings that came up in my mind (well, aside from trying to snap some pretty moments): in short, it was just one of the maladies of developing countries. A large gap between the rich and the poor. The rich were rich enough to afford grand tombs, some were even as big as a small house, and the poor were so dirt poor that they opt to live inside these tombs. Even the poor in my home country avoided living in cemeteries due to some intangible reasons.
I am quite sensitive, spiritually, but the strange thing was that I did not feel as much malice and restlessness as I usually do whenever I visited cemeteries back home in Indonesia. Come to think of it, maybe it was because I was among many of the livings in Manila North. The place really felt like a , a poor one albeit, but still it had the feel. Nonetheless, this brought me to my point that the whole complex was pretty much habitable. Indeed, I even found one tomb occupied by a family of homeless and they even put up a TV. It even had an excellent signal reception. Incredible. Later on I would also found out that many had been living there ever since the day they were born.
It was also amusing and strangely heart-warming, looking at HL taking pictures of the faces of the people who inhabit Manila North. He would ask their names, how they were doing, ask about their families, their lives. In a personal level, it's a good thing, and from a photography point of view (and in my own humble opinion) it's a good method in bringing out the best expressions out of people. It makes them feel at ease with you. And when that golden moment come, all you have to do is to just snap away.
The whole experience was peaceful and grand, and what I remembered most was the blue sky and the resting place under it.
These are some of the pictures I took in Manila North.
...Not Leaving...
(some of the inhabitants of Manila North Cemetery)
(Damn it was a really calm and beautiful morning, with a beautiful blue sky and only a small hint of clouds...)
It was not a long drive to get to the other cemetery (which name was Manila North Cemetery, if I'm not mistaken...have to confirm this). It was practically next door. Manila North(?) was a much bigger cemetery, however it did not have the same sense of grandeur and not as aesthetically pleasing as the Chinese cemetery. While Chinese cemetery had more tombs, Manila North had mostly graves instead of tombs. And the tombs in Manila North were not as big and grand as the ones we found in the Chinese cemetery. However, it was here that I found out why HL preferred to go there instead of the Chinese cemetery.
There were more people there. They're not mourners, they didn't go there to pay a visit to the dead. They were there because they live there. They were the homeless. During my visit there, this was one of the prominent musings that came up in my mind (well, aside from trying to snap some pretty moments): in short, it was just one of the maladies of developing countries. A large gap between the rich and the poor. The rich were rich enough to afford grand tombs, some were even as big as a small house, and the poor were so dirt poor that they opt to live inside these tombs. Even the poor in my home country avoided living in cemeteries due to some intangible reasons.
I am quite sensitive, spiritually, but the strange thing was that I did not feel as much malice and restlessness as I usually do whenever I visited cemeteries back home in Indonesia. Come to think of it, maybe it was because I was among many of the livings in Manila North. The place really felt like a , a poor one albeit, but still it had the feel. Nonetheless, this brought me to my point that the whole complex was pretty much habitable. Indeed, I even found one tomb occupied by a family of homeless and they even put up a TV. It even had an excellent signal reception. Incredible. Later on I would also found out that many had been living there ever since the day they were born.
It was also amusing and strangely heart-warming, looking at HL taking pictures of the faces of the people who inhabit Manila North. He would ask their names, how they were doing, ask about their families, their lives. In a personal level, it's a good thing, and from a photography point of view (and in my own humble opinion) it's a good method in bringing out the best expressions out of people. It makes them feel at ease with you. And when that golden moment come, all you have to do is to just snap away.
The whole experience was peaceful and grand, and what I remembered most was the blue sky and the resting place under it.
These are some of the pictures I took in Manila North.
...Not Leaving...(some of the inhabitants of Manila North Cemetery)
...In Death Bloomed...
(there are so many of these flowers in graveyards and cemeteries...)
...A Peaceful Dawn...
(It was a very peaceful morning...)
(there are so many of these flowers in graveyards and cemeteries...)
...A Peaceful Dawn...(It was a very peaceful morning...)
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