Despite having the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia, the Philippines are home to a large class of people who have been displaced by climate change-driven typhoons, their nation's burgeoning income inequality and a shortage of conventional housing. These resourceful folk build squatter settlements wherever they can—along riverbanks, under bridges, even in cemeteries. With amazing ingenuity, they bring water, electricity and other necessities to their homes and create a strong sense of community with tiny chapels, shops and makeshift basketball courts.
Twenty percent of Filipinos live in settlements like these. Most have jobs or other forms of gainful employment, but there are simply no other affordable housing options for them. Since 2016, I have been working to tell their story in photographs.
