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with Xyza Bacani
ON THE
STREET...
When
The New York Times
’
“Lens” photojournalism blog
posted a story about her
work, it alerted people to
Xyza Cruz Bacani’s talent.
This young photographer’s
striking street shots of Hong
Kong and the Philippines
have also been featured
in
CNN
and
Vogue Italia
among other publications
and at exhibitions in both her
homeland and the city she
calls home. The prestigious
Magnum Foundation named
Xyza as one of its Human
Rights Fellows. She’ll soon
head to New York University
for formal photography
training and mentoring.
But Xyza isn’t a full-time
“street and documentary
photographer”. In fact, she
has spent the past nine
Picture this
DOMESTIC HELPER XYZA CRUZ BACANI
PARLAYED HER CAMERA SKILLS INTO A
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
years as a domestic worker
in Hong Kong. Through
her photos, Xyza offers an
inside look at the everyday
lives of ordinary people,
including her fellow Filipinos.
She captures every image in
dramatic black-and-white.
These days, Xyza is eager
to photograph scenes in the
streets of other cities. “I want
to go to Paris, Africa, Japan
and New York, and travel
the whole Philippines,” she
says. “I want to go places.”
Given Xyza’s talent, don’t
bet against her doing exactly
that. In the meantime, she
shares a few of her photo-
taking experiences.
What’s the longest time
you’ve had to wait for the
perfect shot?
I’m very impatient but I
learned how to wait for half
a day in an area just to get
the shot that I wanted. There
is no perfect shot. The day
I get one is the day I stop
shooting. Perfect is boring.
Have you had any
interesting interactions
with your subjects while
shooting?
With my documentaries, I
interact with them all the
time. I gain their trust and
become a part of their lives
until they share intimate
details about themselves. It’s
necessary that they trust me
and see me as a friend. With
my street photos, I’m a fly
on the wall. They don’t know
me and I don’t know them. I
just record a slice of life or a
fleeting moment.
Is it like you’re on the
outside looking in? You
mentioned you like taking
photos from windows
because it symbolizes
exactly that.
I shoot according to what I feel.
Most of my street images are
visual diaries of what I feel at
that certain moment.
