Xyza Cruz Bacani

Xyza Cruz Bacani (born 1987) is a Filipina street photographer. She is known for her black-and-white photographs of Hong Kong streetlife. She is one of the Magnum Foundation's Human Rights Fellows and is the recipient of a resolution passed by the Philippines House of Representatives in her honor, HR No. 1969. Xyza is one of the BBC’s 100 Women of the World 2015, 30 Under 30 Women Photographers 2o16, Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2016, and a Fujifilm Ambassador.

Biography

Bacani grew up in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya, the eldest of three children. She studied nursing before leaving the Philippines to raise funds for the education of her siblings. At the age of 18, she joined her mother in Hong Kong, working as a nanny for an affluent family in the Mid-Levels. Bacani started taking casual photographs after purchasing her first digital single-lens reflex camera, a Nikon D90, with a loan from her employer.[1][2] Her interest in photography developed while she was still in college, but she was unable to afford her own camera at the time. Bacani met her mentor, San Francisco-based photographer Rick Rocamora, on a Filipino photographers' group on Facebook. Rocamora initially thought she was "just another rich kid who had nothing else to do but shoot" but was surprised when he learnt what Bacani did for a living.[3]

Among her various street photography images of Hong Kong society, she has covered the 2014 Hong Kong protests in Central and documented the lives of other domestic helpers at Bethune House Migrant Women's Refuge in Jordan, Hong Kong.[4][5]

Her work has drawn comparisons to those taken by American street photographer Vivian Maier, who had also worked as a nanny; however, Bacani dismisses the comparison, wanting her work to stand on its own.[6][7]

Exhibitions

Magnum Foundation Human Rights Fellowship

In 2015, Xyza won the prestigious Magnum Foundation Human Rights scholarship to New York University, which will pay for her to enroll in the Tisch School for the Arts six-week photography course.

References

  1. ↑ De Guzman, Nickky Faustine (13 July 2014). "This domestic helper is an international photographer". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Choi, Wai-man (22 November 2014). "坦白講 Get a Life: Xyza Cruz Bacani". Next Magazine (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Tubeza, Philip C. (22 June 2014). "'I don't feel like an OFW, just a girl with a camera' shooting HK's street life". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Gonzales, Lara (30 October 2014). "Photographer.DH: The story of Xyza Cruz Bacani". GMA News. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Tsui, Anjali (6 January 2015). "A lens into the hidden lives of Hong Kong domestic workers". CNN. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  6. ↑ MacDonald, Kerri (18 June 2014). "Taking Care of People and Pictures in Hong Kong". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Kung, Billy (25 September 2014). "'Caring' Photographs: Xyza Cruz Bacani". ArtAsiaPacific. Retrieved 8 January 2015.

External links

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