AFTER THE WAVE

Photo Credit: Unknown, Angeles City, Philippines, Summer 1980 After the cascading eruptions around the Pacific reached Mt Pinatubo on Luzon, Philippines, on 24th May 1980, the Angeles city slums were devastated first by fire and then by water as the ground broke beneath them and the waves rushed in. Only a few survived those hellish days, and many of those left succumbed to water-borne disease shortly afterwards. This undated photograph was captured on 35mm film, found during a 1982 recovery expedition to Clark Air Base, in a ruined house filled with the lasting stench of death. The girl is unnamed and her fate is unknown, her story lost to history with so many others. She wades through the putrid waters towards the setting sun, already hazy with ash clouds choking the skies. How did she make it this far? Who is she searching for? One death is a tragedy, millions of deaths are a statistic. She is a witness, alone in the gathering dark, with nobody to hear her testimony or care about her fate.