After presenting the recipients of the 2017 W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund in Humanistic Photography awards on October 18, 2017 (Daniel Garcia Castro, Edmund Clark and Alex Majoli), The Eye of Photography joins the organization and features the works of the prize finalists.
Raffy Lerma is a Filipino photojournalist whose current work is focused on the on-going drug war in the Philippines. The violent drug war, the centerpiece program of the administration of newly-elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, has resulted in thousands of killings since June 30, 2016. Raffy Lerma has decided to become an independent photojournalist to cover the changing Philippines at greater depth beyond the limitations imposed by the traditional media institutions. Something that remains a challenge for traditional media institutions.
Covering the drug war every night since its early months, Raffy Lerma has produced 30 photographs that illustrate this vital change in the Philippines. He wants to expand the story, documenting not just specific crime scenes, but how a nation’s way of life is changing with the apparent public acceptance of the growing culture of impunity and state-inflicted violence.
Amidst the unrest occurring in various places around the world, the violent situation in the Philippines warrants immediate and widespread attention ,greater pressure from the rest of the world being the last chance of a countervailing measure. Raffy Lerma hopes to produce ever stronger pieces that would provoke reaction and change.
