Through Australian Eyes

I'm excited to go to my blogfriend -- Henry Bateman's first exhibit here in the Philippines. He's an australian who has been living in our country for the past three years, and I've enjoyed reading about his troubles getting a PLDT connection, or how taxi drivers try to 'hustle' him into going round and round the metro just to get a bigger fee. He harps about basketball on the streets, the energy of riding a jeepney... things we Filipinos usually overlook because we've been here all our lives.

Now, here's our chance to 'see' our country through an Australian's eyes. Here's a copy of the invite he sent to me. For you guys who want to see great art and think at the same time, drop by Henry's exhibition:


Through Australian Eyes
One Workshop Gallery
2241 Don Chino Roces Ave, (formerly Pason Tamo) corner Sabio St, Makati City
March 4 to April 4
Opening Reception Tuesday 4th March at 7pm


Living in the Philippines has been an eye opening experience for Australian artist/photographer Henry Bateman.

For the last 3 years he has been a resident of this Island Nation and its influence has seen his work expand in ways he never imagined possible.

“There are aspects of Filipino life that stand in stark contrast to an Australian lifestyle,” Bateman said. “With my work I have tried to capture not only the physical differences but also the cultural differences that the Filipino lifestyle imposes on Australian sensibilities,” he added.

A painter who embraced digital photography 8 years ago, Bateman manipulates his digitally captured photographs on his computer to delve below the composition of the recorded moment. From each of his photographs he builds a new image that explores the underlying motivation that caused the shutter to be pressed when it was. “It is a journey in which the image dictates what directions to take,” Bateman said. “My major contribution is knowing when a destination has been reached,” he added.

“Through Australian Eyes” will be Bateman’s 14th exhibition, but his first in the Philippines. His work has been shown in Australia and the US with the most recent being a solo exhibition at The Australian National University in September last year.