What Filipina DH Does in Spare Time Will Amaze You :-) “I need it. It is for my soul. When I am stressed, I go out and shoot. It is like a therapy for me. I cannot imagine life without photography,” Xyza is all praises for her Chinese-Australian employer who allows her to continue doing what she likes.Xyza said she is paid well and even gets overtime pay. She was influential in my maturity as a person. Some people ask why I continue to work as a DH but I love my job. My boss respects me and I can still shoot,” she said.It is her passion for photography which landed Xyza on The New York Times’ section on photography, Lens source info link : ABS-CBNnews l By Fernando G. Sepe, Jr. l 07/07/2014 5:56 PM abs-cbnnews/lifestyle/07/07/14/what-filipina-dh-does-spare-time-will-amaze-you She has been chased by an old lady wielding an umbrella. She almost got trapped on the door of the subway while doing her thing. And she prowls the streets of Hong Kong at night looking for the perfect opportunity. One might think that Xyza Cruz Bacani is courting danger by behaving like this, especially in Hong Kong, where the abuse of foreign domestic workers is not uncommon. But Xyza is not your common domestic helper (DH), at least not in what she does in her spare time. Xyza photographs life around her in this bustling cosmopolitan city. “I need it. It is for my soul. When I am stressed, I go out and shoot. It is like a therapy for me. I cannot imagine life without photography,” Xyza told ABS-CBNnews about her passion for the art. It is not as if she is stressed and abused at her workplace. On the contrary, Xyza is all praises for her Chinese-Australian employer who allows her to continue doing what she likes. Xyza said she is paid well and even gets overtime pay. She has her own room “which even has a bath tub.” “She is a very good lady. She was influential in my maturity as a person. Some people ask why I continue to work as a DH but I love my job. My boss respects me and I can still shoot,” she said. It is her passion for photography which landed Xyza on The New York Times’ section on photography, Lens. The Lens feature reports that it was Xyza’s mother who first worked for this Chinese-Australian employer. When the employer wanted to hire another live-in helper to care for her as she got older, the boss offered to pay for Xyza’s nursing studies. Xyza eventually joined her mother in Hong Kong in 2006. When she got there one of the first things she bought was a Nikon D90 camera. “I like observing the world around me. When I see beautiful scenes, I have always wished I could record them. I tried painting for a while but it wasn’t for me. Finally, I discovered photography and it made me happy,” shared Xyza. At first, she started shooting flowers, portraits and landscape but these got her bored. She then discovered street photography and got hooked. She started reading about it and looked at works of different photographers in books and magazines. “I enjoy the challenge street photography provides,” Xyza added. Hong Kong’s lively atmosphere provides the perfect setting for street photography according to Xyza. “It’s alive,” she said. “It doesn’t sleep at all. Everywhere you go, you can see people running around,” she told Lens. But her photographs are more than just snapshots of Hong Kong’s vibrancy. Her photography focuses on people as inhabitants of a concrete jungle, trying to carve their own identities from the nameless crowd. “Hong Kong is really crowded so I try to photograph people in isolation because it is scenes like these that do not come very often,” said Xyza. Xyza is also unapologetic to people who have a low regard for jobs like hers. “Work is work. Stop stereotyping domestic helpers as if theirs is the lowest form of work. At the end of the month, we all receive the same kind of money for the work we do,” Xyza opined. Towards this objective, she has committed to documenting the lives of Filipino workers in the territory. “It is important that other people know, especially in the Philippines, what is happening to other Filipinos here. A picture can tell a million stories and hopefully they can see that through my works, both present and future,” Xyza remarked. Note: Xyza Cruz Bacani will be having a talk with other Filipino photographers on July 12, 2014, 2-4PM at the Commune Cafe, Liberty Plaza, 102 H.V. Dela Costa Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City. admin notes : all photos are works of Xyza Cruz Bacani of her famed street photography (subject medium : Hong Kong)
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 15:58:37 +0000
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