Foreword
Beauty can be found in all that exists. There where the senses fail to trace fulfillment and a sense of joy, there it lingers waiting to be experienced.
Time is constant. Never-ending, never will it slow down. Yet how we experience time differs vastly from day to day. As it is commonly known, time or life as we know it is build by periods of seven years. Every year is a part, an organ of the body of life which is built up by these periods. These seven year periods are chapters in life. Change is a natural result shaped by experiences and an individual’s character is shaped by circumstances and environment.
Referring to time, its consistency and how one experiences it, it is a given that it can be dissected into decades, years, months, weeks, days and in hours. So it can be dissected into moments.
A moment is merely a snapshot of a lifetime. Therefore it is an event, be it of significance or not. It can be a brief part of a reaction or it can be a causative action. Moments are in a sense dictated by emotion. Have we all not experienced bitterness in a moment of distress? Have we not all experienced laughter, a sudden rush of joy, with family when worries pile up?
Realistically all our situations differ. People react differently from one another to situations and events depending on their background and character. Characteristically speaking though, there are several traits that put us all at equal heights.
Traveling throughout the Philippines I have witnessed various situations and have met individuals who live in these various situations. These have all been very extreme situations and have given me a peek at life in poor conditions as well as witnessing great wealth.
In May 2007 my sister Martha Atienza, who is a video artist (http://www.marthaatienza.com/), filmed a Bio Sand Filter project by an Ngo named A Single Drop (www.asdforsafewater.org/.com) in Legazpi, Albay. I took this opportunity to assist her with filming as well as making photographs. This region had in the second halve of 2006 been in the pathway of numerous typhoons, of which the most destructive proved to be Typhoon Durian (locally known as Typhoon Reming).
I was able to witness firsthand how the region had been affected and how it had dealt with the situation. One of the main tings I have become fascinated with since my visit is the manner in which the community had dealt with and still is dealing with the after effects of the typhoon and the loss of life. Among several things I want to have a better understanding of people’s reaction to certain things and events. I wanted to take this opportunity and write about human behaviour with regard to this.
With special attention to its people, focusing on the human aspect of the circumstances with the aim of observing how people react differently to certain events, I started gathering notes I had made during the course of time. I started writing my observations and in the meantime taking a second and a more thoughtful look at the photographs I had taken.
The report shall consist of stories. Each story shall tell of a specific emotion of a person/family and will describe the situation including outside persons and outside factors. Each emotion shall correlate with one or several levels of forgiveness. The combination of the stories together with the fact giving introduction shall give an insight and understanding of the situation.
The most important thing is that I tell the stories of the community and certain locations. The stories shall, as mentioned, be put in context with outside factors such the political climate with regard to the response to the situation. Above all, the essence of the stories and eventually the report shall be behavioural patterns. Each story shall have a different perspective or focus on the observation of these behavioural patterns. The basic information such as government and Ngo response to the calamity shall be present but serve no more than a guide for understanding the development of the situation.
Always have I intended for these situations to be documented and not influence or introduce any form of interruption into my work. Manipulation of the subject is confined to how I understand it, how I have interpreted the situation and what the eventual aim of the report is.
Nature is beautiful as much as it is harsh. Beauty however can be bittersweet. The fields that used to serve agricultural purposes have become graveyards. The ocean with its soothing voice whispers the names of those swept away by the landslides yet it continues to be a livelihood for the community. Life and death are significant in nature’s cycle. Beauty and its definition is connected to our attitude. Some have turned with hatred towards the soil that has buried lives. Others find comfort in the flowers that grow out of the same soil. I think that beauty is a very significant concept that must be understood.
Always have I been fascinated by time and how we experience it. Time certainly will be an interesting test for the community of Albay. Life has been very overwhelming, uncertain and unstable for them. Times have been very tough for the survivors. They have to move on with their lives, meanwhile dealing with what has happened and perhaps come to terms with certain issues. As time will go by the community will look back at this whole ordeal and situation and look at it as history. If anything they will look back (consciously or unconsciously) and see what has changed and what they have learned. Time is a great healer and does not ask one to forget history but it merely offers understanding and growth.
I always pay my attention to details the greatest. This is evident in my style of writing. When the stories, my writings are stripped to the core, essentially what will remain are descriptions of people and the scenery with as background the situation of the subject.
I am currently in the Netherlands. Therefore all photos will be from my visit to the region in 2007 and as far as facts are concerned I will depend on the internet, from online newspapers to websites from Ngo’s, to keep me updated. In the time coming I will publish excerpts along with photographs on this blog from the report that I am currently working on.
I welcome you to check in on my blog once in a while for updates on this report and voice your opinion.
Regards
- Scenes & Angles -
(C) Anthony Jake H. Atienza
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