LOCAL photojournalists are making Cordillera proud in Hawaii.
Veteran lens men, Dave Leprozo Jr. and Art Tibaldo, opened their Hawaii exhibit dubbed "Ilocandia, a Photographic Odyssey," last week.
"This photo exhibition is dedicated to the first Filipino migrants to Hawaii it gives a visual via my photos a glimpses to the 2nd and 3rd generations of Filipino Hawaiiians on the rich culture of their forefathers," Leprozo said.
Leprozo said Ilocandia was staged a tribute to the First Filipino Migrants to Hawaii. "It is a visual expedition of the Ilocos regions rich cultural heritage, landscapes, daily life, festivals, religion and way of life," he shared.
In celebration of the Filipino-American History Month, the exhibit will run until November 30 University of Hawaii at Manoa Hamilton Library.
"Ilocandia" is a photo and film exhibition sponsored by the city and county of Honolulu featuring Leprozo's photography with images of Northern Philippines particularly the Ilocos region.
Tibaldo, a multimedia artist, who owns and operates the first ever media museum in the City showcases his work on Northern Philippine Culture.
Ilocano migrants in the 19th century, because of the mounting population pressure due to substantial population density and the search for better opportunities pushed groups to leave their homeland.
Inspired by the promise of a much better life, the Ilocanos started moving out of the country and into the United States in 1906.
The first wave of Ilocano migration to Hawaii was in 1906 to 1919. Most of the Ilocano migrants worked in sugarcane plantations along with recruits from Germany, Portugal, China, Japan and Korea.
The second wave occurred in 1920 to 1929 and was the largest Filipino migration in Hawaii of about 73,996 Ilocano people.
Today, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Filipinos have overtaken the top spot as the top Asian ancestry group in Hawaii.
The exhibit also features the work of Kristian Leprozo, son of Dave, a neophyte lens man, on his way to being a professional under the tutelage of his dad. (With reports from Radiant Marie Cordero)