A wizened facade...
...illuminated for an instant...
...bears stony witness ...
...to faded glory.
Shrouded secrets of past grandeur.
Highlights of a bygone era.
Casting shadows in the night.
Stoic...
...and silent.
In stillness...
..and solitude.
Gazing out from these windows...
...I wonder what sights they once saw.
As it flows on, only the river now knows.
Manila by night. From a recent night shoot.
hmmmm. which part of manila is this? looks very familiar?
ReplyDeletei was half hoping to see you, ruddie, in a faux nurse's outfit ala alma moreno in "manila by night" lolz
ReplyDeleteat first, i thought it was taken somewhere in europe.
until i saw metrobank and alfredo lim's campaign poster *rolls eyes*
ang galing naman, napaka sequencial at may potrayal ng kwento.
ReplyDelete@ engel : The first four pictures are of the beautiful El Hogar building, built in 1914. The massive shrouded edifice in picture 5 is the First National City Bank, built a year later. Both these architectural giants are located just a little off the foot of Jones Bridge, overlooking the Pasig river.
ReplyDeleteThe succeeding pictures are from Binondo, near Dasmarinas Street. You must have a good eye because they don't look anything this hauntingly beautiful in the daytime.
@ Ternie : I've always loved this part of Manila, and yes, the European vibe is unsurprising because Daniel Burnham, the famous American architect, originally envisioned Manila to be laid out like - gasp - Paris.
I have an unpublished blog post about El Hogar and other hidden, neglected architectural gems of Manila, but I was waiting till Araw ng Maynila to post it.
@ sakpin : Awww, thanks. And welcome to my blog.
love the play of light and shadows. i also like the sepia-ish/vintage effect of the photographs. =)
ReplyDelete@ Bonsaist : Thanks! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed the sepia-ish effect of the available tungsten light. These are raw pictures with no color-correction, and yes, the yellow/sepia hues do evoke a different time, don't they?
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree: nothing like chiaroscuro for that added drama.
beautiful...... at tama si Ternie.... kaloka...
ReplyDeleteoooh, raw file pala ito. mas magaling!
ReplyDeleteP.S. may Oro Plata Mata sa mga video stores sa Landmark and SM (Astro Vision ata)
walang hada duon.
ReplyDelete