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Plaza Miranda, 1930s

Movie and TV director Uro dela Cruz recently unearthed old prints and negatives form the 1930s (full story here) from an unknown Teodulo Protomartir -touted as the Farther of Philippine Photography- and what is obviously the predecessor of our group, RFilipinas (Rangefinder Filipinas), the 35MM Club Manila.

I’ve seen the scans and the prints myself, and for anyone who holds photography and its history close to heart, this IS probably the best, most fulfilling fix you can ever imagine. This wasn’t part of any museum exhibit (yet), this is from someone I’ve asked a pansit lucban recipe from.

Protomartir’s photographs of Manila (not seen in Uro’s site) were simply breathtaking. Fuse pre-war Manila, and an awesome eye for capturing images, the scans I saw were maddeningly beautiful. All the members of RFilipinas unanimously considers this THE find of a century, and would gladly sponsor an gallery show or even a book for this.

Keep posted.