Hannah Reyes Morales – Filipino Photojournalist

School: University of the Philippines, Diliman ~ bachelor's degree in speech communication

Date of Birth: August 1, 1990

Hannah Reyes Morales is a Filipina documentary photographer and storyteller. Morales was
raised in Manila, Philippines with her mother and 12 relatives, where she completed her
bachelor's degree in Speech Communication in the University of the Philippines Diliman. In high
school, Morales tutored children in poor communities and gained valuable experience during
that time. Dedicated to revealing the gentleness and love within difficult, often violent, situations,
Hannah sensitively honors the experiences of the people she portrays. The challenging
series Season of Darkness for example, bears witness to the horrific consequences of the
Philippine government ‘war on drugs’. The work directly challenges the dehumanizing language
used by the state to legitimize widespread extra-judicial killings by intimately showing the
humanity of victims, their loved ones, and wider communities.
Stories of resilience and community, and explorations of connections to ancestors and
landscapes, are recurrent themes within Hannah’s work. Roots from ashes is an ongoing project
that seeks to give voice to the survivors of a brutal act of violence in a small town north of
Manila during World War II, while the series Eagle Hunters gives a glimpse into the lives of
young people growing up in the wild and expansive Altai region of Mongolia.
Hannah's photographs expose private moments from the lives of people who are impacted by
inequality, poverty, and injustice. Her images elicit deep empathy, highlighting a range of
emotions in a single image to emphasize our shared humanity.
Hannah is a National Geographic grantee and received the 2020 International Center of
Photography (ICP) Infinity Award for Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism. Publications
featuring her work include The Washington Post, The New York Times, National Geographic, Al
Jazeera and the vital resource. The Photographer’s Guide to Inclusive Photography x Authority
Collective. The World Economic Forum named her a cultural leader in their ASEAN forum. She
is the recipient of the Tim Hetherington Visionary Award and the ICP Infinity Award for
Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism. She was commissioned as the Nobel Peace Prize
photographer in 2021.
The reason why I chose her to research more about her is that most of her pieces are about the
life of Filipinos who are being oppressed by poverty, hardships, inequality and more which,
gives us awareness about the corruption of our country, the Philippines. Most of her photos
focuses on social issues and human rights and inequality, poor Filipinos suffers because of the
imbalance of opportunities between the poor and the rich.
Principles of Art in Hannah Reyes Morales’ Season of Darkness (I specifically only chose one
but to see the whole album, click this link: https://hannah.ph/Season-of-Darkness)

Pattern: The pattern in her pieces is that she tells us a story in which it depicts violence and
hardships to give awareness about them to the people who looks at her art. Examples are “The
Drug War”, “Shelter from the storm”, “The ruins of Marawi” to name a few.
Balance: Since her pieces are more about the oppressed, the balance on her photos rest more
on the dark or black shades to depict the dark side of her subjects. Her photos were more on
the inky and pitch effects to show that they are serious and tragic.
Emphasis: She shows emphasis on people or objects that shows or tells us a story like for this
photo, a slippers with blood that shows that the owner of the object got killed.
Harmony: The harmony in this photo is a little off because of the light shining in the upper part of
the photo but, I interpret it as how the subject was discovered to be actually a drug user.
Overall, Hannah’s photos shows harmony on all elements.
Variety: Her photos shows more objects or elements but for this photo that I used as an
example, it shows simplicity but a story can still be interpreted which makes it a very good
photo.
Movement: Hannah Reyes Morales, after observing her artworks/photos, it depicts hardship or
oppression in which I believe, she chose to make people aware of the situations of others. It
exposes private moments from the lives of people who are impacted by inequality, poverty, and
injustice.