Voice.Global > Blogs > Participatory Photography with Non-Moro Indigenous Youth in the BARMM
Participatory Photography with Non-Moro Indigenous Youth in the BARMM
April 20, 2022
The participatory photography with non-Moro indigenous youth in the BARMM was organized by; Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center – Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE PH), Teduray and Lambangian Youth and Students Association (TLYSA), Teduray Lambangian Manganguda Bangkeson (TLAMABANG) and Gempa ti Kelindaan ne Kamal te Erumanen ne Menuvu – Youth (Kamal Youth)
The workshop was inspired by the fact that youth are speaking up. Amidst the issues ranging from human rights to climate emergency, now more than ever the youth are taking up spaces to make their voices heard. As the generation that will inherit what is left on this planet, it has become more compelling to demand for systems change and structural change and dream for a better world.
The increased accessibility of photography becomes a powerful tool as a means of expression, more so for advocacy and organizing work. The Participatory Workshop was designed to democratize photography and equip those often misrepresented to take photos that they believe best represent them and their community.
The workshop gathered 11 Teduray, Lambangian and Erumanen ne Menuvu youth to collectively represent the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). They will create photo essays to their topic that is most close to their hearts. Their concepts range from their identity, rights and culture. The objective of the Participatory Photography is to give the youth the platform to amplify their voices and popularize their issues to the public.
The workshop was divided into two parts: Photography for Advocacy (Practical photography skills sharing) and Visual Storytelling for Impact (Production of the photo book and exhibits).
The series of photos below is the behind the scenes of the first workshop last April 14 to 19, 2022). The second workshop will be conducted on April 25 to 29, 2022.
Pau Villanueva, a photographer and our resource person, discusses the basic elements of a photograph. Credit Joolia Demigillo/LRC
The organizers lay down the ground rules before we go on to our photo walk exercise at Grotto Park in Cotabato City. Credit Joolia Demigillo/LRCOn our way to our second location for the photo walk, we stopped over at a location overlooking the Grand Mosque, the second largest masjid in the Philippines, surrounded by marsh land in Cotabato City. Credit: April Ulubalang/TLYSAParticipants show the photographs they took through their mobile phone at Timaku Port in Cotabato City. Credit: Butch SalikWe took a group picture before the participants went home to work on the respective photo story assignments.Pau Villanueva shows how to take a balanced photograph during the photo walk exercise at Grotto Park in Cotabato City. Credit Pau VillanuevaUsing our group chat, Pau Villanueva sends a quick reminder on the framing of photographs to take home with them as they do their photo stories. Credit: Pau VillanuevaJohn Daniel Gambay, Renalyn Recla and her brother take a selfie as they do their fieldwork for Renalyn’s photo story on the struggle of their family to assert their ancestral domain rights of the Erumanen ne Menuvu in Bukidnon. Credit: John Daniel Gambay/Kamal YouthBaisan Morabong goes back to her hometown in Upi, Maguindanao to photograph the changes in the lives of the Teduray youth who live in the far-flung areas and migrate to the city to continue study in a secondary school. Credit Baisan Morabong/TLYSA
Banjo Mosela takes a photograph of his family as they show the importance of forests and rivers to the Teduray community in Upi, Maguindanao. Credit: Banjo Mosela/TLYSAWarlyn Arang documents the ‘monom’ or the weaving tradition of the Teduray and Lambangian indigenous peoples in South Upi, Maguindanao. Credit Warlyn Arang/TLAMABANGAside from documenting the products, Warlyn Arang goes with the women weavers to see how they source the weaving raw material, ‘nito’, which is becoming more endangered due to deforestation. Warlyn Arang/TLAMABANGIn order to get to know more about their ritual tradition as a Teduray youth, April Ulubalang participates in a fenuwo (village) assembly in Upi, Maguindanao to observe the ritual conducted before the establishment of their tribal hall. Credit: Jayson Ulubalang/TLYSAThe tribal hall overlooks the mountainous landscape in Upi, Maguindanao. The same with April Ululabalang, Erwin Penda, who undergoes apprenticeship with their spiritual leader, documents his experience as an Eruman ne Menuvu youth in-training. Credit: Ronito Modbeg/TJGJohn Daniel Gambay and Jovanny Agdahan aim to document the importance of agriculture to the Erumanen ne Menuvu in order to provide for the basic food needs of their community. Credit Renalyn Recla/Kamal YouthRenalyn Recla and Febe Mantonggo trek within the Bukidnon forested lands to photograph the important trees and animals within their ancestral domain. Along the way, they see a rare fruit that can only be found in primary forested areas. Credit Renalyn Recla/Kamal YouthFebe Mantonggo poses as they visit the cave that they only knew about when they were doing the photo story on the reasons why the Erumanen ne Menuvu is determined to defend their ancestral lands. Credit: Renalyn Recla/Kamal YouthThe father and brother of Renalyn Recla take her to the falls as they show her the significant features of their community’s ancestral land. Credit: Renalyn Recla/Kamal YouthAna Tandoy is interested in documenting the effort that it takes to make their cultural clothing in Erumanen ne Menuvu. Credit Ana Tandoy/Kamal Youth
Dave Sambren takes a photo of the moon in South Upi, Maguindanao as he applies the lessons learned from the Participatory Photography Workshop. Credit: Dave Sambren/TLAMABANG
