Mount Pinatubo eruption photos launched at San Francisco Main Library

Consul Reginald Bernabe gives a background on the photos before an interested audience during the launch. Photo by Vic Valbuena Bareng

SAN FRANCISCO – Dramatic photos of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on June 15, 1991 are now on display at the San Francisco Main Library until September 6, 2012.

The exhibit is a compilation of the works of Filipino photojournalists who braved and survived the deadly eruption that saw daylight turn into night, villages swallowed by swiftly flowing lahar, 800 lives lost, half a billion dollars worth of property destroyed, tribal communities displaced, and left thousands homeless.

Highlights of the exhibit are award-winning photographs of Filipino photojournalists Albert Garcia and Heraldo Cabrido. Garcia, photo editor of Manila Bulletin, won the grand prize in the prestigious World Press Photo Contest, a first for a Filipino photojournalist, for his compelling shots of Mt. Pinatubo’s fury. It was also chosen as one of Time Magazine’s “Greatest Images of the 20^th Century.”  National Geographic Magazine included it as one of “Best 100 Pictures of the 20^th century”. To give a better perspective on the impact of Garcia’s spectacular picture, the 20^th Century included two world wars, the moon landing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the eruption of Mount Novarupta, the largest eruption of the 20^th Century.

San Francisco Main Library marquee announcing Mount Pinatubo photo exhibit at the Filipino Center. Photo by Vic Valbuena Bareng

Included in the exhibit are three photos of the eruption, aftermath scene and devastation by Philippine Daily Inquirer Photography Consultant, Heraldo Cabrido, which won the grand prize and best in News Photography in the local Catholic Mass Media Awards.

The photo exhibit, commemorating the 21 years since Mount Pinatubo’s eruption also carries the works of photojournalists Nick Sagmit, Derek Soriano, Ted Aljibe, Chito Vecina, Edwin Tuyay, Edwin Bacasmas, Angie de Silva, Ernie Sarmiento, Rem Zamora, Val Handumon and Joe Galvez.

An “Artists’ Talk” is scheduled for August 9, 2012 at Main Library’s Latino/Hispanic Room from 6 to 8 in the evening.