Layo: Kung Ilalarawan ang distansya

• Main Authors: Madrid, Cathleen Jane De Leon, Maraña, Paula Bianca Masangkay, De Gracia, Bernice Romero
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2022
• Subjects: Photography; Diaries—Authorship; Families; Film and Media Studies
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_comm/17; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=etdb_comm
• Institution: De La Salle University

This project is a 72-page autoethnographic perzine that documented the familial lives of three young women, two years into the COVID-19 pandemic. It was formed with authenticity in mind, using film photography and autoethnographic journalling. The women aimed to resonate through the photos of people they share spaces with, and have known all their lives. To do so, they tell their stories: of an ate having to watch her two younger brothers grow up in isolation; the life of a bunso yearning for independence, beyond the incessant care of her family; and the youngest of three that became two and the lingering grief that persists in the empty spaces of their home. The project was composed of two phases and was done during the last three months of the year when families often gather. For phase one, photos were taken spontaneously during the proponents’ daily lives. Madrid photographed her younger brothers, De Gracia her parents, and Marana her parents and brother. Lastly, the proponents wrote autoethnographic journals by hand: how quarantine affected their familial relationships and how the photos reflect this. During phase two of the project, the proponents identified common themes for the narrative. 30 photos were selected alongside the journal entries that accompanied them. These were then edited in Adobe Photoshop and then layouted in Adobe InDesign. 6 in. x 9 in. 72 pages, 37 spreads. The perzine is to be uploaded in Issuu, but will be printed with limited copies, to be given to the proponents’ family members.