5 and 7 December 2010

Midway during the climb to the summit of Mt. Bungkul Baka, we met an Aeta community. Aetas are indigenous people living scattered and isolated in northern parts of Luzon. During the Spanish colonial rule, they were called Negritos together with other indigenous people because of their dark to very dark brown skin, small frame and stature, curly to kinky light-colored hair. I took portraits of the children and some adults in the community. They are very friendly people. They live by harvesting the hearts of banana trees and selling them at the lowlands. When I got back home, I fed the same roll to another camera and took snap shots of the busy Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue - otherwise known as EDSA. Here are the results of that fusion of images. In some, you can immediately spot the children or my fellow mountaineers whereas in others, you have to give the picture a second or third look to find the Aeta children amidst the billboards and cars of urban jungle.

More photos by lakandula