Lomography

Every January 9th of the year, millions of Catholics flock to Quiapo to celebrate the Feast of the Black Nazarene. In four years I was there thrice to document atleast a thousand of these devotees. And I promise to shoot more next year.

The Nazareno is a life-size Mulatto sculpture of Jesus Christ housed at the Quaipo Church. Carved by an unknown Mexican carpenter, it was brought by a Spanish priest to the Philippines on 17th century via a ship. The ship caught on fire and burnt the image. it even survived few more tragedies after that – earthquakes, fire, and World War II bombing.

Devotees believe that it is miraculous, every Friday they go to the church to say thanks and pray an a part of their 9 Day Devotion (Novena). Plenty of them had actually received or experienced miracles like healing and surviving un-treatable diseases.

And on the feast day, the church brings out the image for a procession. Millions of barefoot people gather around the street to have a glimpse of the miraculous image of Jesus Christ, waving their white towels and shouting “Viva Senor!” and some tug the rope that attached to the carriage carrying the Nazareno.

2008
I brought four cameras on my first time shooting the fiesta – LC-A+, Holga, Fisheye 2 and Supersampler. The Supersampler was perfect for the action and moving shots.

2009
My second year wasn’t that good. I only brought my LC-A+ and Diana F+, but my LC-A+ died after 15 shots.

2011
This year I chose to shoot the event entirely on black and white! I used Kodak BWCN400 and two rolls of T-Max400.