Ralph Dollaga

I am Ralph Dollaga from Philippines. I am currently 23 years old. I belong to the Indigenous group Ifugao. My people were originally from the mountains of Cordillera region but moved to the lowlands to seek life opportunities.

I was a campus journalist back in my time at the university. There I was taught that competitions are just part of the aesthetic and what I need to learn is how to serve the public with the truth. I considered it as training for the bigger things that will come in life soon.

In my teenage years, I photographed nature and wildlife to hone my skills in photography and storytelling. But as I moved forward, I developed cravings for stories about human lives—our intimate connection with one another and our environment. With that said, from 2019 up to now I am practicing Documentary photography and I’m in pursuit of virtually untold stories.

Back in 2019 to the first months of 2020, I photographed pro-democracy protests in Baguio City, Philippines. My photos were published on my alma mater’s official publication White&Blue Facebook page. I talked to human rights activists, made friends with some, and eventually got pulled into the battle against oppression.
As a photographer, that is beneficial to me since anything that I covered and want to cover is about human rights, i.e., better living conditions, healthcare, and whatnot. My perspective about the world has expanded as well; aesthetic is not my only standard anymore.

Come March 2020, I had my first decent portrait shoot of Filipino traditional tattoo artists in the city. We all know what the traditional tattoo—batok—is and how it is done. But as I photographed the whole process, I felt a connection with the tattoos and also with the artists. The photos I took were supposedly for an exhibit but I felt as if I should protect it from the “outsiders” since this is part of my culture. I decided to show it to people nonetheless.

Due to the pandemic, I was forced to go back to my hometown and stay with my family. I thought I would just stay there for only ten days but it was extended for a year and counting. Utilizing my knowledge about photography, I started taking photos of my family. I take photos of our lives as a simple Filipino family. With that said, I am working on a project about my grandma. Moreover, I took a photo of my sister studying and it was published in a 2020 online magazine Memento of the publication Novice.

I expanded my skills as well. With the help of my sister, I was able to make a home-made lightbox which I used to take photos of insects. The photo of a praying mantis is a part of Habilin PH’s online exhibit Likha (create). I entitled it “The Widow Maker”.
On December 2020, I won APACPH’s Photography competition with a theme of life in the new normal. The photo was published in their Youtube video showing other photos of the competition as well. It was a portrait of my sister before embarking on a medical mission.

I know I am not a novice anymore in storytelling. But I still have a lot to improve because the stories are waiting to be told.