I’ve always considered the 70-80’s era of the Philippines as the golden age of art in the Philippines. It is in this era that the greatest movies and directors came out from that decade, hymns and songs from around the country flourished, the rise of our national painters with their signature style, the reception and quality of literature in both fiction and prose was top notch, and for our purposes here, it marked the golden age of Philippine photography. I’ve always wondered what is in that era that marked such an output from the artists. I think that they responded to the crises of their time by being responsive. Either to the government and what it stands for or to use art as vehicles to show their political affiliations.
I feel that we are at the cusp of another era such as the 70’s-80’s. The conditions are there: The lawlessness, economic uncertainty caused by a never ending threat, the degradation of human value, and the latest one, entering the post truth world. The tide of history is currently shifting and photography’s history is also tied to these shifts. We’ve seen it first hand how a mother’s wailing was heard around the world and yet there are those who question the tried and tested power of the still image made by the hands of skilled photojournalists. Those who question the power of the image are trying to shape their narrative by debunking the truths that a photograph contains.With all of this happening, how do we move forward?
