11 Islands

“On a weekend, while I was inside our school in my hometown, I heard the news that a bomb exploded in a nearby movie house. I rushed there bringing my camera with me, crossed the police line and took some pictures. I remember my hands trembling. I remember hearing my heart pounding. I was in high school then, hobbying photography. Right there, I felt the rush and the power to tell the news in pictures. I fell in love with photojournalism.”

Charlie Saceda is based in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga. During his 10 years of news photography, he had covered the conflict-affected Mindanao from terrorism to insurgencies, embedded with the military on operations and covered the frontlines.