A life in photos

To sit still and wither is not possible. I have never known boredom. I have always pursued what I wanted to do. So here I am in the Philippines and loving every minute of it as age creeps up on me. I love the Philippines. It is a beautiful country but what I like best about it is the people.” So begins John Tewell an award-winning pilot from Girard, Kansas, USA, who gained recognition for flying small aircraft.

John eventually became a photographer and amassed an amazing collection of photos that have become a treasure, making him the go-to person whenever a building restoration is going on. His photos are vital to the accurate restoration and reproduction of period details — those decades that have been lost to record, as in the case of the Intramuros Administration projects.

John will be asked if he has any photos of the old buildings that they plan to restore, and if so, he gladly supplies them.

“Book publishers who need old photos of Old Manila always include my valuable collection as they did in Manila 1945, The Rest of the Story, a book published in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of Manila,” says John.

“When I retired in 2007, I decided to move to the Philippines. As I am a visual person, a photographer since the 1950s, I was always pointing in the direction of photography. My wife and I stopped by an antique shop in Ermita in 2008 where I found a complete album of 1930s portrait photographs and I bought it. That started me actively searching for other heritage photographs; I enjoy collecting them and looking at the stories they tell, and beyond. There’s personal satisfaction in knowing that I am helping preserve the history of the Filipinos and hopefully opening more doors towards deeper understanding and appreciation about your rich culture,” says John.

“I consider photos that depict the everyday lives of the common folk most important,” he adds.

“I quickly learned that the cultures of the Philippines are incredibly diverse and complex, from the far north to the far south, and that most Filipinos know very little of their own heritage. I wanted to learn more and have a deeper grasp of my new home and photographs undoubtedly paved the way. I share what I have learned with the Filipinos and I believe that through photographic records I have found an excellent way to value and respect heritage and keeping those records was indeed a worthy cause.”

John has photos documenting historical events like the Liberation of Manila, World War II, plus countless images of women, children, churches, buildings and monuments, schools, homes and market places that certainly bring us back through generations, romantic to nostalgic, enabling us to look across time.

There is no one alive today to tell us these stories, to describe the climate, to tell us how Filipinos got around, or dressed up for carnivals, church and photo sessions. These pictures speak thousands of words.

Before the advent of digital photos, photo-sharing websites and mobile apps, actual photographs were treated as treasures that people would send to their loved ones with flowery notes and dedications written in script. Their recipients would carefully put them away in boxes, bauls and manila envelopes. Those were the good old days when meaningful keepsakes were indeed kept. 

“Today with the ever-expanding internet, universities, libraries and museums are digitizing and posting their old photograph collections online. It’s amazing how many of them are of the Philippines,” exclaims John.

 He invites all Filipinos to visit his online collection, which he first created in February, 2009, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntewell/albums.

He wants people to recapture the glory that was pre-war Manila. “Remember that before WWII, the Philippines, especially Manila, was truly the Pearl of the Orient and undoubtedly the place to go,” John beams.

“Many of the pictures in my collection I allow people to use for free. They cost me almost nothing. At the start, I purchased many of the original photographs from USA Ebay. Many of those I bought were in the P50 to P750 range, with some very important original photographs costing more. I don’t remember my most expensive acquisition but would guess it would have been around P3,000,” explains John.

It is undeniable that the very high humidity in Manila can take its toll on photographs.

“Many of my original old photographs are deposited for safekeeping in a controlled environment at the Filipinas Heritage Library. Surely, I have many more in my home that need to be brought there for preservation. In fact, I have signed an agreement with the Filipinas Heritage Library stating that my collection is not a donation to the library and when the time comes that I am no longer around, ownership of my collection goes to my son, Dr. Jeremy Tewell, who has a PhD in history in the US. What he does with them will be up to him,” says John.

John’s collection provides a unique opportunity to experience the Old Manila lifestyle, seen through the eyes of many photographers as they captured life exactly as it was.

In today’s digital age, many may still remember stories, silent movies and images of their own societies and families, familiar places and vivid stories that were proudly, happily (and maybe even viciously) told in their time.

There’s still a special feeling of attachment one feels when holding up a photograph. It’s certainly more magical and emotional than looking at shots on a computer screen, which unfortunately is becoming people’s only option left these days.  

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Email the author at nikkicoseteng2017@gmail.com or text her at +639974337154.