Malapascua is a documentation of the small Pilipino Island, portraying a sense of the environment and the tight community which its local inhabitants share. For this series, Naomi especially wanted to capture the strength of the children as they help their families to earn money for their livelihood.
Although it is illegal to work if you are under fifteen years of age in the Philippines, children on Malapascua Island are officially allowed to seek ways to earn money if it is directly under the sole responsibility of their parents or guardians. Taking advantage of this law, children take to the island’s beaches and dusty pathways selling handmade jewellery and slicing up and serving fruit to passing tourists.
Although in recent years Malapascua has become increasingly popular among travellers, it is an island of uncertainty due to its geographical positioning. Situated in the Pacific Ocean on a weather pathway near the equator known as The Typhoon Belt, the Philippines is one of the world’s most natural disaster-prone countries and is a frequent target for violent tropical storms. Therefore, it is not unusual for life to be disrupted on the island and for residents to go through waves of heavy financial burdens.
Traditionally a fishing island, the local population is now heavily reliant on tourism with 80% of the island’s income coming directly or indirectly from holidaymakers. Becoming so dependent on one industry has its drawbacks as, when bad weather hits, it takes a while for the economy to recover and for people to feel safe to visit the island again. This has a huge knock-on effect on Malapascua Island, with inhabitants finding themselves suddenly living in an inhospitable environment and resulting in it becoming difficult to afford derived human rights, with worries of the remote Island being disconnected and unable to access electricity and modern lighting. Although the island is developing and better housing foundations have been built over the last few years, as sea temperatures rise (warm waters are a requirement for forming typhoons) global warming is playing a big part in the intensity of the storms and the destruction caused on the highly vulnerable archipelago.
Naomi’s images reveal the strong emotional bond the children have with their parents and siblings, while capturing the setting of the island in which they grow up and become independent at an early age due to a living of unpredictability.
In 2013, a selection of images from this series were exhibited at Bamburgh House in Newcastle, UK.
