Handumanan sa Pamilya is an exploration of my identity as a member of the Filipino diaspora in America through the lens of colonial archive and generational memory. These photographs were created in collaboration with my elders, crafting a new archive which preserves the memories of their upbringing in rural Cebu through performances and re-enactments staged at the home of my apohan in South Carolina. Each image presents itself as a reflection on the effects of time and place in relation to diasporic experience, undergoing secondhand and worlds apart formative experiences instrumental to the fabric of our caregivers' identities, and ultimately our own, existing in stark contrast to the colonized histories we are presented with in our newfound place of residence. These photographs, as one component of a larger body of work which seeks to engage with and question the broader consequences of colonial photographic practice, exist as 16"x20" 4-color gum bichromate prints-an alternative photo-based process that visually contemplates the effects of time on memory, while conceptually aligning itself historically with the works of the Photo-Secessionist and Pictorialist movements, pioneered by visual artists which sought to subvert the generalized understanding and acceptance of photography as an objective and scientific medium.

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Generational Memory

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Handpainted