Mountain Province's grassroots culture and traditions get celebrated through dance and music, original traditional games, exposition of weaves and costumes/heirlooms, and most importantly the meta-physical community spirit called Sin-pan-gili in their kinship ties and oneness as a group by its various participating municipalities : Tadian, Sagada, Sadanga, Sabangan, Paracelis, Natonin, Bontoc, Besao, Bauko, and Barlig ...
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I found myself lost in the crowd as I am unable to locate my photographer colleagues. By chance, I wandered into this part of the Bontoc Plaza. To make the best use of time, I took street style photos. I was so curious that I am being drawn to a powerful magnet like a helpless grain of metal filing to what was happening behind.
I went under the man-made canopy where lots of people were gathered and came to the event marshalls getting everyone to vacate the place as the cultural presentation is about to start.
Most often I take isolation event photo captures and my fancy was drawn to what was laid on the ground which appears to be Mountain Province assorted ethno-indigenous woven basketry and a handmade water jug pottery.
Whilst I was naturally mingling with the crowd, it was again an opportunity to take event portraits. It was just perfect timing as the canopy we were under acted as a softbox/filter converting the mid-day harsh afternoon light into soft reflective light required for portraitures. Before taking the portraitures, I always say in Ilokano dialect "Pictyuran ka. Wen ah 1-2-3!" - "I'll take your photo, Yes! 1-2-3!" in a friendly and assertive tone/manner. Most of the time, I just let anyone's natural reaction be what my camera captures. No photo coaching. This first portrait is one of my favorites, as this ethno-indigenous Mountain Province young child was just surprised but willing for this ephemeral shutter session.
After a brief visit to a nearby cafe's comfort room, I immediately went back and by this time the cultural presentation has already started. I found myself unable to immediately go back to a strategic area to photo-document as the thick crowd was evident. So, I managed to patiently humbly squeeze myself amongst the crowd. I dressed up looking like a media reporter so that helped.
Made it! Now I found myself in the middle of the stage. Still where I stood at was not favorable in capturing what was happening in the middle of the arena.
Luckily, I made it at this part and just came to a wild guess that this was the Media/Press section. I said to myself this has to be one of those days that I use a "thick-face mask" and keep shooting and take the risk of even getting flagged by an Event Marshall. The gods were kind and I received their protection.
The confluence of Mountain Province's diverse culture, traditions again takes center stage in a cultural presentation of its various municipalities.
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INTERMISSION : LANG-AY CULTURAL GAMES
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The puzzled chicken ... What's goin' on?
At this juncture is a a surprise intermission portion to make way to a sort of ice-breaker which is a display of homegrown ethno-indigenous cultural games. I realized too late and my bad that I forgot to turn on the audio of my camera when I took the catch the chicken videos.
A lightweight 85mm lens was just enough to reach the performers.
If you've made it to this part of the blog, here's a bonus of my first successful attempt to do a video documentation (now with audio turned on). I apologize for the technical oversight in the Puzzled Chicken vids above. Here's my newbie short video attempt of the cultural presentation. . Laughs. :P Enjoy! :)
I continued on with my event portraiture shoots. This is one of my favorites. His head dress is the first that I've ever seen made by natural wild mountain fern. I remember when I was young my late grandfather and I gather wild mountain fern which is used to protect little planted seedlings from the sun to germinate and keep the soil moist and provide the proper environment conducive for growth/survival.
It was way past lunch time and I was feeling a little fatigued and dehydrated as my body was sending sweet complaints that just ruled my mind and got me ... I forgot to inquire the other afternoon activities and headed back to the hotel/inn did water therapy and took a short nap/siesta to re-charge.
Here's what next on the blog ... coming soon ... The 13th Lang-Ay 100 Gongs/Ganza Night ... C'ya ... 😎
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