Award-winning veteran photojournalist Alex Baluyut dies at 69

MANILA, Philippines – Award-winning veteran photojournalist Alex Baluyut died on Friday, February 27, his wife Precious Leano confirmed. He was 69.

Born on May 3, 1956, Baluyut had an eye for resistance and justice. He was instrumental in photographing the events that unfolded during Martial Law and the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, capturing scenes from the snap election to Filipinos pushing against the tanks on the streets.

The late photographer had also published a compelling 2013 photo essay titled “Revisited” under Invisible Photographer Asia, where he showed snapshots from his trip back to Mindanao many years after guerrilla warfare had occurred on that very land.

Throughout his career, Baluyut won two National Book Awards for Kasama: A Collection of Photographs of the New People’s Army of the Philippines and Brother Hood.

More than immortalizing current events behind the lens, however, Baluyut was also considered a local hero for calamity-stricken communities, having founded the Art Relief Mobile Kitchen (ARMK) alongside his wife.

Since 2013, ARMK has handed out hot meals to people in food drives across the Philippines whenever natural disasters hit. All the food was completely free. The only compensation they ever asked in exchange for the meals was “a smile.”

Throughout his life, Baluyut had made a mark on Philippine photojournalism with his professional work, and on thousands of Filipinos across the country with his mobile kitchens.

Details of his wake have yet to be announced. – Rappler.com