Project Rice

November 25, 2007: Manila Philippines - Rosa & Edison photographed on the street at 3:51am, 'selling' flowers at their Mama's behest.

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/8s f/2.8 at 14.0mm iso800

The next night I set out at 3:45am to see if I could find Rosa, begging with Edison on the streets.

Manila's not a place you want to roam around in at that particular time - I have a saying when I'm there:
"Freaks Come Out at Night"

...and it's true - Manila's a more dangerous place at that hour, and I was careful to watch my 6, but I had to find them...and I did.

As I walked down the alley way to my favorite local 24hr. coffee shop (I can get coffee there for P10 a cup, and can make it as strong as I like, and I do like strong coffee) I saw Edison coming up the street, telling me Rosa was with him.

I got to the end of the street, turned the corner and she saw me, smiled & called out to me - but hesitated, as though she didn't know how I was going to react seeing her out at this hour.

She always knew I was not pleased to find her out past her previous 10pm bedtime - so she was testing me to see if I would be upset seeing her there (I was, but didn't let her know that immediately)

I motioned to her to come over to us & she ran over with hugs, as I hadn't seen her since April 2007 when she burned her hands with scalding water & I took her to the local medical clinic.

We sat down with Edison at a small table outside a local eatery - it was 3:51AM.

...what the HELL was she doing out at that hour, I thought.
..I saw the flowers she was holding in her hands, and again I bit my lip....she had never, ever begged before.

That killed me - I've fed her & her Family, taught her English, explained why she should stay in school & study, and tried to set a good example for her...and she started texting me "Papa PJ" last year while I was in the USA...

It was just good to see the kids again, even though I was upset at finding them streetside just shy of 4am.

PJAMES

Shooting Notes:
Outside at 3:51am its only available light & that means SLOW shutter speeds, sometimes VERY slow.

But the image also has a 3D depth of field quality to it, drawing you into the street at night; I like that.

This was 1/8th of a second and at that speed it's impossible to shoot daily life with moving people and not get 'movement' inside the image - but here the blacks & greys are interesting, as you can tell it's outside, lit by street lamps, and Rosa is always animated when we're out & about, so she shows movement, but that's the reality of the photograph - I don't try to hide that fact; it's what keeps my images real, and not contrived.