Lifestyle

Pinay maid-turned-photographer exhibits works in NY galleries

At age 18, Xyza Bacani left the Philippines to join her mother in Hong Kong and work as a domestic helper for the same family.

Even though her interest in photography started even before then, Bacani had to put her dream on hold to provide for the needs of her family as the eldest of three children.

On weekdays, she’s busy doing household chores but on her days off, Bacani will roam Hong Kong, capturing the country’s street life through her camera, which was a gift from her employer.

“Isa sa mga reason kung bakit ‘di ko maiwan ang domestic job is because of my mother. Ayoko na maiwan siya na mag-isa doon. One of the reasons na nagro-roam ako sa Hong Kong for photography is dahil hindi siya lumalabas. I show her the photos,” GMA News quoted Bacani as saying.

After more than a decade, Bacani is now an internationally renowned street and documentary photographer. Her photos have been featured in New York Times, CNN, and other foreign publications.

She is well-known for capturing stories of migrants in Hong Kong and New York as well as putting focus on human rights issues.

Because of this, she was chosen as one of the grantees of the international grant-making network Open Society Foundations.

Aside from funding her work, combining art and social change, Bacani will also be the first Filipino to be featured in the foundation’s Moving Walls exhibition series across its New York galleries.

Her works will showcase migrant workers in Hong Kong who have survived human trafficking.

In 2015, she was included in BBC’s ‘100 Women in the World’ and won the prestigious Magnum Foundation Human Rights Fellows award for her work on migrant workers.

Here are some of her works:

Photo credit: xyzacruzbacani/Instagram

Photo credit: xyzacruzbacani/Instagram

Photo credit: xyzacruzbacani/Instagram
Photo credit: Xyza Cruz Bacani/Facebook

Source: GMA News

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