Bata ng Bulungin (The Whispering Children)

The following photos were taking over the course of a Tuesday morning at a fish market outside of Manila. The locals refer to the the fish market as a "Bulungin"(which translates to "Whispers" in English) after the way in which the sea men and the vendors negotiate their prices. I had initially gone to photograph the vendors and the hustle and bustle of the morning crowd but, upon arriving at the fish market, I was greeted by lively group of about a dozens kids who were eager to show me around. I was so taken with the children that I could hardly photograph anyone else. Watching them weave in and out of the cramped stalls, climb small huts by the sea and play volleyball with a pink balloon reminded me a lot of my own childhood growing up. It connected me back to that intense feeling of being lost in a world of your own imagination, of a world were you made the rules. It was very much a privilege to have been invited and included in their world, if even just for a morning.