Burning Heart: A Portrait of the Philippines

When most Americans think of the Philippines, they consider the wild excesses of Angeles City and the old Subic Bay era. This book goes beyond that image and gives the reader a more accurate view of the Philippines and its truly remarkable culture.

The photographs brought together a variety of interesting images of the Philippines. As an amateur photographer, I have been searching for photographic books on the Philippines and I found the contrast of beauty and harsh reality very well put together. The only drawback was the poetry. I didn't feel that it captured the emotion of the images.

This is a beautiful collection of photographs. They speak about the lives of people we hardly see in pictorial collections about the Philippines. The faces of the people are real and desperate. I am reading Bino Realuyo's Umbrella country (which I love) and these pictures almost bring to life the images in the novel. I recommend this book (and realuyo's novel too).

I recently got to see the photographs that make up this book at the Sepia Gallery in NYC. These photos are superb and very powerful. Roth has a fantastic eye--her photographs are beautifully composed, showing great attention to the nuances and details of her subjects. She has obviously spent a lot of time immersed in Filipino life and culture--and has the skills to capture it to film. As a photographer, I found her work very inspiring. Beyond the formal qualities, her photos present very moving glimpses of Filipino life. They are very powerful and showcase a wide range of scenes. I highly recommend this collection of photos (especially if you cannot see the exhibit in person).