DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 October) – In today’s age of untruth, lies, disinformation and total breakdown of sanity, especially among those who are supposedly responsible and accountable to the people to uphold human decency and dignity, a single dissenting small voice could reverberate aloud.
Photo: BOY HERNANI
Images don’t lie, though they can be tweaked, twisted to tell lies.
Many, if not most among exceptional photojournalists, capture the moment at the right time and place, and such images often tell their stories even without any caption to describe what the eye behind the camera has caught. While it has been said that good photographers are endowed with good eyesight and skill in handling good quality cameras as tool, not all are gifted with the good sense and sensitivity towards their subjects.
I have known Medel Hernani whom we have fondly called “Boy” as the light-footed and quick photographer of the Development Education Media Services Foundations (DEMS) in the early eighties, whose work included capturing images during Martial Law, the height of protest actions in Davao.
Boy remembers that DEMS was where he was given the opportunity to grow to become one of Davao’s finest photojournalists “pinaagi ni Vir Montecastro nga maoy naghatag ug higayon nako nga makat-on ko sa photography, diin gitudloan ko niya diha sa correct light exposure, sharpness sa subject, ug hangtud na sa darkroom, sa pag-develop sa mga film to negative, ug pag print sa mga hulagway” (through Vir Montecastro, who gave me the opportunity to learn photography, who taught me the correct light exposure, sharpness of the subject, all the way to the darkroom, the process of developing the film into negative and then finally in printing the pictures.)
After covering rallies, Boy would then go DEMS’ darkroom to process the rolls of films. After a matter of hours, he’d hang the still wet photos in the red-lighted darkroom for the meticulous eyes of DEMS’ once master editor-mentor and most revered photojournalist / trainer Virgilio “Vir” Montecastro, who had the perfect eye for the best image.
For years, this was how Boy masterfully developed his skill in photography, always with a bucket full of patience and perseverance, starting from the planning stage before covering events, up to the time that he had to produce and present his black and white copy. Always with utmost care and mindfulness to details like the exact light and timing in capturing “the moment.”
The perfect capture in black and white
The stark reality as projected in human faces and even the tense situations were unmistakable in many of the black and white images churned out by Boy’s searching eyes, such that even if the situation had happened from the past, the photos seemingly brings the viewer that feeling of looking at the scene in the present time.
Some of these images were those of the Indigenous Peoples living in dire poverty up in the harsh environ of Talaingod in 1994, when Boy was among those who joined a Relief and Fact Finding Mission conducted by human rights groups and other non-government agencies working with the religious groups in Davao City.
Himself having been raised and grown into an impoverished family who had to survive on sparse income in the so-called squatters’ (informal settlers) area in Bugak, Sasa, Davao City back when he was little, Boy had known what it was to be hungry and destitute.
Hard-knock life
The discipline must have grown into him at a very young age, when Boy had worked to earn his keep and helped his impoverished family earn a living in whatever means, like washing abaca fiber when he was still very small and could barely lift a heavy load. Much later as he tried to continue his studies after his parents could not support him, he worked his way persistently up and determinedly finish his college degree at a local university.
Hence, when he joined an alternative media outfit in Davao City, the Media Mindanao News Service (MMNS), after most established media had been shut down through the years following the declaration of Martial Law of then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the difficult coverage in the city outskirts had proved his mettle.
Photo: BOY HERNANI
One memorable coverage happened somewhere in Surigao, together with a team of writers and some religious groups who were approached by families of the soldiers who became what the New People’s Army (NPA) dubbed as “prisoners of war” (POWs) who were due for release at that time. Boy recalls that it was the most difficult coverage he had ever experienced as a photojournalist.
The team was brought by a guide who knew about the area where the POWs were. For Boy, it was a harrowing experience as he dreaded getting hit in the event of a crossfire, even as walking through dense foliage and difficult terrain for hours on end made him wonder if he would still come out alive after the assignment.
Before he knew it, they finally came upon the soldiers held by the rebels. Though he could no longer recall their names, he could not forget the seeming camaraderie that seemed to have developed between captors and captives.
“Nakita nako nga managhigala na ang mga sundalo ug NPA nga maoy nag gwardiya nila. Sulti sa labaw sa mga sundalong na POW, maayo ang pag tratar sa mga NPA sa ilaha. Dihang na print na nako ang mga photos, makalipay tan-awon nga maayo ang relasyon sa mga rebelde ngadto sa mga sundalo. Ang realization nga bisan lisud ug delikado ang maong coverage, apan kabahin ko sa grupo sa pagbuhi sa mga sundalo nga na POW.” (I saw that the soldiers and the NPA seemed to be friends already. Even the leader among the soldiers told us that they were being treated well by their captors. When I saw the prints of my photos, it felt good to see the seeming good relations between the soldiers and the rebels. Thus, even if it was the most dangerous and difficult coverage I’ve ever experienced, I was happy to be part of that team that saw the release of the soldiers.)
As Diomedes Eviota said, “Medel ‘Boy’ Hernani remains one of the photographers I look up to. Not because I am a fellow photographer (I am not) but because of the dedication, respect and passion that he gives for journalism and the art of photography.”
Eviota grew close to Boy as colleagues in the MMNS. Boy was the senior and head photographer then of MMNS.
Through the years though, nay, decades, that he continued to document through his lenses the different life events among the very least, the workers and the realities among the urban dwellers where he started, Boy said it seems like the years have come and gone and nothing significant have really happened since then.
Photo: BOY HERNANI
Now 70, Boy reflects on those four decades of photography: “Murag wa pa mo sink in sa akoa nga upat na diay ka dekada kong nag coverage, pag capture sa kalisud nga gibati sa mga mag-uuma, kay hangtud karon mao gihapon ang ilang kahimtang. Ubos ang ilang produksyon, ubos ang presyo sa palit sa ilang abot. Ug walay yutang matikad. Ang mga Lumad, Ata Manobo sa Talaingod hangtud karon nagpadayong adunay hulga sa ilang kinabuhi aron lang ma depensahan ang yutang kabilin batok sa mga gustong moilog niini”(It has yet to sink in that it has been four decades of coverage, of capturing the difficulties of the farmers, because until now, their situation is the same. Production is low, the prices of their produce are low and they do not own the land they till. The Lumads, Ata Manobo in Talaingod until now continue to live in fear as they defend their ancestral lands against big land grabbers).
Still, he hopes that through the images that he painstakingly captured through the years, people will remember, and that the next generation will learn the struggles of so many Filipinos who have been living on the fringes of society. With the help of well-meaning friends and acquaintances that he has worked with through the years, Boy hopes to contribute to the current efforts among historians, writers and advocates of human rights to defend and preserve historical facts that are being threatened by disinformation and fake news trolls nowadays.
“Pitik,” Boy’s photo exhibit showcasing the different faces of society in Davao, will open on October 12 and run until October 31 at the ARC Library of La Herencia Gallery along Torres Street in Davao City.
The exhibit will feature some 30 photos from his collection from the 1980s.
Hosted by La Herencia, the exhibit is sponsored by Liyang-Kyabaan Group Inc and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, in collaboration with Rm.74 and Paglaum Philanthropic Development Office. (Gingging Avellanosa-Valle for MindaNews)
