San Pedro, Laguna

I returned from San Pedro on Friday night, but I haven't had a chance to post about it till now.

Long story short, I got nothing. At least, I didn't get what I'd come for - a decent photo story, or a lead into one. I'd like to say it wasn't for lack of trying, and I'm sure my companions feel the same way, but I know myself better than that.

I decided to focus on Elma (second photo), a 13-year old scavenger with a third-grade education who came from a family of six that lives on something like $2 a day. This sounds almost stereotypically tragic (it is) and like something that would be easy to make a story out of, but somehow things ended up not working out. A photo story is essentially a collection of interesting moments, but between logistical and time issues (I ended up being able to only spend a half-day following her around), weather (overexposed skies, woohoo!) and my sticking out like a sore thumb (Chinese people like me don't often - or ever - hang around garbage dumps in this country), I wasn't able to get enough of those interesting moments for a story.

I was, however, able to make my cameras and pretty much every article of clothing I was wearing stink to high heavens, to see more flies in one place than I'd ever imagined possible, and to see where Manila's fast-food refuse ends up (Quick answer: in their bellies.) It was, as the saying goes, a learning experience. Photo story photos don't come easy, by any means.

This is something I might come back to when I'm more patient and more talented, but for now I'm going to cut my losses and move on to my other story with my remaining time in the country. And I'll keep the time commitment needed for something like this in mind when I return to LA, where I spend most of my time these days.