"GRO's" Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

I shot this just before Xmas with the wife's new little Sony DSC-W100
at ISO 1250.

'GRO's(Guest Relation Officer's) are what the tourist police call
these girls in Angeles City in the Philippines,the girls work for 160-200 Pesos
a day (USD$4.00) plus about P50 (USD$1.00) commission on ladies drinks,if the customer wants
to take the girl out of the bar a "Barfine" of P1250 (USD$25.00) is payed and the GRO gets half
(USD$12.50).

There are approx 70 bars now in Balibago (Angels City sub-div right next to Clark-Manila airport)
a far cry from 1991 when there were more than 300 when there were 20000 Americans based there, but
the eruption of Mt Pinatubo closed the place down then. The bars there now employ from 25-150 girls each,
most tourists are Americans and Australians with about 15% being from Western Europe.

Now low-cost airlines 'Tiger Airlines'& 'AirAsia' fly direct into Clark-Manila
from Singapore and KL in Malasia, 2007 is rumoured to bring more from other Asian
locations.

Even though I had the wife with me, I had a good time looking up some mates I've known there
for years and don't mind a bar hop and drink as well,great fun.

======================================================
Camera: Sony DSC-W100
ISO: 1250
Shutter: 1/15 (handheld)
Aperture: f/2.8
Flash: No

bantonbuju, Serendipity, ChrisJ, ksvijayb, kiwi_explorer, tomauer has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

bantonbuju (48334) 2007-02-13 4:26

hi ian,
i always like a lot to stop by this sort of photos which drive attention of many (27 views by the time im writting this) and no critique left....
i find this image being a top te photo, life as it is, pure reality, no nice theory behind...
(it does not mean that i havent my own opinion on this sort of business, never mind what this opinion is :-))
interesting thing is how "
flat" this image went out (meaning that there is some sort of 3rd dimension loss) - could be probably the reason of the harsh light (and quite high iso setting)...
anyway, im glad you posted this image,
best wishes, j.

kabe (1998) 2007-02-13 5:13 [Comment]

Show Comment

ChrisJ (69522) 2007-02-13 5:47

Hi Ian

Not the most flattering daily life shot from the Philippines, but the image realistically portrays the reality of the girly bar scene there. The same type of thing can be found in Bkk or Pattaya if you go looking for it. Well managed interior lighting. Tfs!

jhm (81687) 2007-02-13 8:01

Hi Ian,

Congratulations with your new camera, I've the same, I use these for daily work, very good camera.
The high ISO gives a little bit noise above in the picture, but not really disturbing, a pleasant moment for photographing with all these young ladies
Very well done!

Greetings,
John.

Graal (57268) 2007-02-14 2:14

Welcome Ian,
interesting, amazing scene, fine reportage. You had difficulty light, ISO 1250 and a bit noises but theme is great. Good note also. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

feather (49848) 2007-02-14 11:46

Hand-held at 1/15 sec is no mean feat. Well done. Although the subject matter is not my cup of tea you are fulfilling the TE mission well. For 1250 ISO the noise is not bad at all.
Kath

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2007-02-14 14:26

Hi Ian,
Interesting nightlife ... but behind the scenes these girls live a very hard and sad life. It is through financial desperation that they are in this predicament. Well captured scene ... lucky you were allowed to bring your camera inside. Picture and colour quality is also very good. TFS
Cheers,
Renier

harleyababon (0) 2007-02-16 8:55

Great Shot! makes me miss Angeles City the more. Luckily, Im not too lost, as its pretty similar to Amsterdam, London & Birmingham UK, even in New Jersey. unfortunately, cant do any digicam shots from clubs here...well, so much for a free country...

nspineda9 (353) 2007-02-19 2:03

I grew up in pampanga and places like these i dare not to go.sorry but, these places are what I call prostitution 101.police tolerated them and it's happening everywhere and I guess it just hurts a little when you see your own countrymen to such state.poverty?well my sisters are poor too but never became like that.Because we fought poverty and learn how to work with poverty,that we didn't have to surrender our dignity in order to get by.tfs.mabuhay

tomauer (306) 2007-03-16 2:44

! Dollhouse bar & night club that is :) I have been there, but not for 'those' purpose's.. Nice picture, Although i tried a similar picture in the same bar, and got in trouble, Camera's not allowed.. lucky shot you have!

banyanman (7716) 2007-07-27 7:20

Hi Ian. I spotted this on a previous visit to your gallery but resisted the temptation to comment because I spotted something more 'traditional' to critique. But back here now and the same thought crosses my mind: "What were you doing in a place like this?" Of course you realise that nobody believes explanations like "I had my wife with me" or "I didn't go there for those purposes" (see Thomas' excuse above) ha ha ;)- Anyhow, an informative documentary post that'a a 180 degree departure from your usual style (no long exposures here!). Pity the head got in the way of the shot, but I suppose there wasn't much you could do about that if you were shooting this covertly (two of the girls look like they spotted your camera though). Cheers . . . David

edal (6553) 2008-01-06 23:19

Hello Ian!
It's interesting to see these Asian ladies so cheerful and inviting. Obviously December temperature is rather high - so they do not need much dressing;-)

Your shot is a very good presentation of the place.

Best wishes!
Anton