Brian Flaherty

Brian Flaherty is an editorial and documentary photographer born and based in San Francisco, CA. His photos are informed by a curiosity towards unfamiliar places and a desire to find narratives in the mundane. Today we share his series Barangay.

Barangay “Barangay”, which is the Tagalog word for village or district, is a collection of photos that explores small town, rural life in the Philippines. The project houses everyday scenes together with meditative portraits, landscapes and still lifes to provide an emotive window into the lived experience of the everyday Filipino people. While this series focuses on just one fishing village, in many ways it is a microcosm of the collective experience of millions of inhabitants in this part of the world - despite their difficulties, they are a remarkably strong and resilient people with a genuine joy and warmth towards outsiders. Being an American photographer, there were certain limitations in attempting to document the various social realities of the town. In the end, my focus was on the scenes that peaked my curiosity, provoked my imagination and stirred my emotions.