Tommy Hafalla, noted Cordillera documentary photographer based in Sagada gave a talk at the Silverlens Gallery last Saturday with the theme Photo Documentary Meets Tradition as part of the side activity for the kkk exhibit by the brothers Kidlat, Kawayan and Kabunyan de Guia. Here he talks about his experience of documenting the various northern tribal groups and some of the misconceptions that have been written about them and his primary objective of recording the rich but endangered culture and traditions of these proud people.

Come to think of it, he has been doing this for more than 25 years already and in the process, has amassed a treasure trove of information that any other ethnographer would kill to have. Being accepted into the inner circle of the elders, and welcomed as one of their own, even to the point of having been given an indigenous name and partake in the decision making in the community proves the full trust they have of this soft spoken and very friendly man.

He brought with him samples of his own work from an exhibit at Lumiere last year as well as his Polaroid experiments and really, these were amazing. His documentary is true to form. He mentioned that when he was compared with another esteemed Cordillera documentary photographer, Eduardo Masferre, he quoted someone who said that with the latter, the photos were from the standpoint of an observer from a distance whereas with Tommy, one can clearly notice his involvement.

His polariod experiments are something else. At first, one would be tempted to think that these are mere paintings, as even one of the participants thought and was quite shocked when she was told that they were not. For the technosavvy, I surmise that Tommy would easily forgive him with a twinkle in his eye and a heartfelt laugh, if he will be asked what Photoshop plugin or action he used. These are all manually, and skillfully manipulated through the darkroom process!

Will he ever switch to digital? This avowed film photographer says that it might be a remote possibility considering that he doesn’t have the resources for a digital workflow but confessed that maybe, the only thing that he might consider is through scanning and printing as what he did with the experimental photos that he showed around, blown up to a bigger size from the often smaller polaroid shots.

One question that seems to be asked with concern, which I do share also, was if he ever has plans to commit his goldmine of knowledge to the written word considering that visually, these were all taken cared of. Its a dream, Tommy answered. Its the gargantuan task of preparing for a book with its equally gargantuan cost that is setting him back. As one old English lady said, that he should commit to it as it is also his responsibility. This should be disseminated and published lest it will be gone forever, a point that we, including Tommy, agrees. As another lady put it, once he will commit to it, money would never be a problem.

As for doing documentary photography, there should be focus, he advises. There should also be trust between photographer and subject. When he started with documentary work, he didn’t bring with him his camera. What he did was to talk with the community, being with them, showing his interest and explaining his purpose and objectives. At one point, when he asked permission from one of his subject to take his photo, the subject was hesitant and fearful that he will take his spirit with him. With this, he gave the assurance that he will personally <em>give</em> his spirit back to him (amidst our laughter and amusement) to which he did what he promised, that is, giving a copy of the photo. When he did this, he went on, it became easier and the community, especially the elders no longer minded him doing his work.

And all that paid off. Look at what he has accomplished now.

Note: Photo taken with Sony Ericsson W950i at full resolution (2 megapixel), cropped, resized, levels and curves + saturation slight adjustments then saved at 80% JPEG quality.

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