Trials and Triumph

      Eloisa Lopez

    A Filipino freelance photographer based in Manila, Philippines. Majority of her work specializes on crime, human rights, women and children issues.

    She started documenting at the Filipino Catholic Faith. She graduated from De La Salle University eventually working as a photo correspondent for the Philippines.

    During the time President Rodrigo Duterte won the election and declared war on drugs, she had the idea of documenting this as a project of her own. Until her work was seen and heard from reporters online. She then continues her work through a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Since then she continued capturing humans rights and issues in the Philippines. Her work also appeared on the New York Reviews of Books, TIME. Her work was also exhibited in the WARM festival in Sarajevo, Prix-Bayeux Calvados in Bayeux, and a club in Bangkok.

    President Rodrigo Duterte promised to wage war against the drugs. He managed to get a whole list of people in the Philippines who were drug addicts and decided to kill each and everyone of them. Here are some of the images shes captured during the first six months of the war.






Photo Credit: Eloisa Lopez



Photo Credit: Eloisa Lopez



Photo Credit: Eloisa Lopez




Photo Credit: Eloisa Lopez

Photo Credit: Eloisa Lopez

    Having that said to me I still can't believe that back in the day as mentioned by Professor Nordell in his video "Women Photojournalists" he explains the struggles that women go through when taking photographs. For instance with Marion Wolcott, where there was a time when men urinated in her photography chemicals, and threw spit balls, and extinguish cigarettes in her developing trays. Just because she was women. To me it shouldn't matter what gender you were. Women are no different from men.

    From Professor Nordells "1957 advertisement for Life Magazine." It had stated " "Lavish color folios, hard-hitting text, works of significance by men of stature - all make LIFE worth having." This to me was very dissapointing. Why is that they had only included men and not women. As if we were to look at men like they were on top of women.


    "Catherine Leroy" who parachuted in with American troops during the Vietnam war. Not only that but was captured by North Vietnamese Army. Those same people, her enemy, had let her take their picture. This just goes to show that women are physically and mentally tough. No matter what happens or what she goes through she will keep pushing through because its what she loves doing. No one, especially men should be able to take that away from her.


    Still till this day majority of the men still look at women as if they are weak. How men rule the world and women don't. Especially today Women aren't being promoted enough. If anything less then men. In terms of music, art, food, dance, etc. In terms of job where women are actually being payed less then men. Women even being harassed. This should end now. Its heart breaking for me to even know that. Every women in this world brought every human being out into this world. Every individual in this world came from a women. So why are we disrespecting them.
In conclusion, having to have female photojournalist have such great power. The power to communicate with people around the world through images. Coming from a women's perspective shows a lot right there. Don't you think.