Photographers carry a fallen activist after a volley of shots hit scores of protesting farmers in Mendiola, leaving 13 people dead, in 1987.
Luis Liwanag is a photojournalist who has covered many memorable events in recent Philippine history, including the Mendiola Massacre of 1987, where thirteen farmers demanding agrarian reform were killed by anti-riot forces who were on their way to the presidential palace. Liwanag's Mendiola massacre pictures are featured in "Doon po sa Amin," an ongoing photo exhibition at The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, along with the works of Alex Baluyut and Nico Sepe. Manila-based photojournalist Veejay Villafranca talks to Liwanag.
VJ VILLAFRANCA: During the '70s what was your biggest ambition as a photojournalist?
LUIS LIWANAG: I started being a photojournalist in the '80s. I have always aspired to produce work that would be parallel with the works of humanist photographers from Magnum agency.
A slain activist is placed on a "media" jeep.
VJV: Being at the forefront of the action and also one of the most in-demand photojournalists of your time, did you ever dream of taking your talent abroad or covering issues outside of the Philippines?
LL: Yeah I did. I wanted to go to South America in Nicaragua and El Salvador to witness the tumultuous upheaval of it's people and document it.
A fellow activist looks after a farmer hit by bullets.
VJV: When did the decline of the photojournalistic industry start and what do you think caused it?
LL: I don't really consider photojournalism as a dying industry because stories and people's experiences continue to be told. I think it was the evolution of photojournalism as we knew it. The rise of mega-picture agencies brought about the death of the smaller and more personalized "photographer's" agencies. Photographers became just numbers and accounts in the agency's rosters.
LUIS LIWANAG: I started being a photojournalist in the '80s. I have always aspired to produce work that would be parallel with the works of humanist photographers from Magnum agency.
A slain activist is placed on a "media" jeep.
VJV: Being at the forefront of the action and also one of the most in-demand photojournalists of your time, did you ever dream of taking your talent abroad or covering issues outside of the Philippines?
LL: Yeah I did. I wanted to go to South America in Nicaragua and El Salvador to witness the tumultuous upheaval of it's people and document it.
A fellow activist looks after a farmer hit by bullets.
VJV: When did the decline of the photojournalistic industry start and what do you think caused it?
LL: I don't really consider photojournalism as a dying industry because stories and people's experiences continue to be told. I think it was the evolution of photojournalism as we knew it. The rise of mega-picture agencies brought about the death of the smaller and more personalized "photographer's" agencies. Photographers became just numbers and accounts in the agency's rosters.
Activists rescue a fallen comrade who was hit by bullets fired by government soldiers during Corazon Aquino's term.VJV: What is an important trait that every photojournalist (veteran or neophyte alike) have nowadays in order to survive?
LL: I firmly believe that all photographers, emerging or established, should not stop thinking out of the box and continue to rock and roll with the times. The paradigm has changed but the heart and passion should be kept burning. A good ethical standpoint, in terms of the search for truth in storytelling, should be the prime directive for each of us. Being technically savvy and well informed of human issues is a must. We must never stop learning and shooting and advocate for a sense of community among ourselves.
On CM Recto Avenue, fully-armed anti-riot police pursue protesting farmers who scamper away during a bloody dispersal.
VJV: Name your top three foreign and local influences.
LL: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank and Susan Meiselas
Soldiers prepare to disperse the crowds of activist farmers.VJV: Apart from photographic skills, what else should budding photojournalists focus on in terms of developing their voice/style/signature image?
LL: Budding photojournalists should be visually literate and have a good moral fiber unswayed by social or political pressure and good entrepreneurial skills. To top it all, we should be driven by a search of truth and understanding of the human experience.
Armed to the teeth, soldiers chase after farmers marching for land reform.VJV: Do you think photojournalists are given the proper respect in the Philippines? Can you site an example wherein photo/s was used as a driving force for actual change?
LL: Yeah, I think photojournalists do have a voice in the Philippines. There are countless of times when images done by Filipinos or someone else created an impact in our society. Filipinos are very compassionate and although it is hard to pinpoint actual occurences of this, photojournalism has changed the political landscape of our society and the way we discern events of national significance.
The aftermath of the protest march that turned into a massacre.VJV: How do you think photographers can survive today? Is it just mastery of craft? Skill in storytelling? Visual style and experimentation? New knowledge in the medium?
LL: Like I said, we can all survive by being good at all of these factors. We should always be able to reinvent ourselves and continuously rock and roll with the times. Keep ourselves relevant by being informed. Keep the fire burning in our hearts and mind's eye to give our visual voice to the voiceless.
One of 13 farmers killed during the confrontation with government anti-protest forces.
VJV: If you could be transported back in the '70s, what event/time/issue will you cover?
LL: If I had the power to go back in time, I would have liked to cover the Vietnam War, the Summer of Love/Flower Children, simply because that era epitomized the human search for peace and also of war and destruction. It could have provided me a better perspective on the scheme of things and I firmly believe that my documentation of it could have helped people understand the folly of war.
Soldiers on alert.
VJV: Since we are a very young industry (around 50 yrs counting from the post-colonial era) what is your wish or what would you like to see flourish in the photojournalism industry?
LL: I would like to see a revival of the personalized photo agencies and birth of more arenas to display the medium. More tools that are within reach of all photojournalists that empower and let us deploy our imagery in real time.
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