photographer's notes

THE qualities and the personalities of the children I photographed at the time were unusual since all of them being of mixed origins - half Filipino, half American - and in circumstances that were less than ideal in mostly a single parent or even in a non-parent setting, really had a profound effect on how they looked and behaved. It was as if though the children were neither here or there and the most telling feature that showed in all their faces was the familiar 'one thousand yard stare', known as a look that most American servicemen who did tours of duty in Asia would acquire because of their own self-adjustment to the environment of being stationed in new and unfamiliar territory. These are the nuances of identity and culture that are so evident in the faces of the Amerasian children and that go well beyond skin deep as they eventually grow into adults.

I took these series of photographs in the early 90s, and it would be interesting now as some people have suggested, to go back and photograph the children again, some of whom would already be teenagers by now or nearing that period in their lives.

Events having been what they were and how Filipinos and Americans have grown to know each other, one would hope that these children would not have to struggle with their identity even as they remain in Philippine society and where they will most likely stay. The bases are gone now, and this is likely the last prominent batch of Amerasian children to grow into these specific circumstances. They need help in their education most of all, aside from the challenge of having been sired and left behind by their American fathers and having been born into the custody of a single mother who for most of them will not have the means to raise them fully. Some have been in the care of aunts and even grandmothers who would be harder put as to make the children their priority to care for. What this means is that at a certain early age, these children are going to be pretty much on their own, trying to fend for themselves. But with the most important question in their hearts and minds being, 'Who am I?'

I hope that by finally showing a human face to the childrens' plight, it will raise awareness amongst Filipinos themselves who for some superficial treatment and reading by the media and other social analysts at the time, really did not know what the Amerasian children were about. They were made to look as 'racial novelties' and 'sideshows' amidst the background of the American military bases pullout. But the Filipino Amerasians are still very much an unfolding story in the area of this 'westernized' culture where yes, the color and appearance of one's skin as a factor of one's place and standing in society are among those strange and dubious inheritances the Spaniards and the Americans have handed to the history of the Malays, the brown race of Asia. There are many soul-searching questions still, and likewise, the positive lessons to be learned from the children themselves.

Ben Razon

July, 1998