Xyza Cruz Bacani and her mother were domestic workers who left their home in the Philippines for Hong Kong. She photographed this journey and the impact it had on their family
When someone suggested Filipina photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani should publish a book, she laughed. Bacani was already a celebrated photographer in New York, Hong Kong, and Manila, renowned for her searing black-and-white street photography. But, self-deprecatingly and incorrectly, she still saw herself as a novice. Luckily for us all, the person asking was James Estrin, the co-editor of the New York Times Lens section, and he has some sway.
“At first I had doubts because I felt like I was a baby in the industry,” Bacani says. “I had just been working as a photographer for four years and it’s scary to publish a book. But I think it’s also good to doubt yourself.”