Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation has been in the media industry for more than 120 years, giving the best quality news for Filipinos and also supporting the preservation of our natural resources by raising awareness on different environmental issues through an Environmental News section every Thursday. 

To go beyond educating the people through its broadsheet, Manila Bulletin launched a special photo exhibition called Earth + Lens. It aims to raise awareness about the importance of Mother Earth by looking at its beauty through a lens. 

Now in its third year, Manila Bulletin has been mixing the traditional and new ways of creatively encouraging the audience to appreciate and protect our natural resources by using methods they can easily relate to.

All exhibited photos are taken using a digital camera or smartphone and printed with eco-solvent on fabric, making the exhibition special as it steers away from the usual use of tarpaulin printing and embraces the sustainable way.

This year’s theme of Earth + Lens was extra special, as it features a very timely environmental issue the country is facing. Being home to the most picturesque scenery, the Philippines is definitely on the list of places to experience an extraordinary summer. With islands surrounded by crystal clear waters, tourists can experience rich and diverse marine life and indulge in world-renowned beaches with pristine, fine sand. Search anything about the Philippines’ best beaches and one will most likely come across more than 100 listicles, each highlighting different group of islands. 

It’s a clear indication that there isn’t a beach in the Philippines that one can call “mainstream,” because a country with around 7,641 islands surely has endless destinations to choose from. That’s why this year, Earth + Lens has decided to showcase the beauty of our local beaches.

Being a country with a host of attractive vacation spots is not just a blessing but a challenge, too, especially for the Department of Tourism (DOT), which Manila Bulletin tapped as official partner for this year’s Earth + Lens. Recent reports showed that in 2018, the Philippines tallied a record high 7.1 million tourist arrivals. Following this, it announced its priority of promoting high-value tourism with the aim of attracting more guests while prioritising environmental preservation at the same time.

With different photographers from Manila Bulletin’s Picture Perfect, Going Places, and the Department of Tourism, different shots featuring the beauty of our natural resources were compiled. Manila Bulletin also created a digital gallery where photos from online followers were displayed right beside the photo exhibition through an LED screen.

With the help of Huawei’s dual camera system on its advanced smartphone models, the wonders of our country’s unique attractions are immortalised. We also encouraged our partner brand to do a live demonstration showcasing its products so the audience can learn to do the same shots and produce high-quality photos of their own as well.

Earth + Lens extended all its efforts to reach the audience to relay the message of preserving, appreciating, and protecting our local beaches. Manila Bulletin, Picture Perfect, and Environmental News all released simultaneous print advertisements to promote the exhibition; online efforts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram of all partner companies also helped in spreading the news.  

Alongside DOT’s sustainable tourism campaign and Huawei’s competitive smartphone photography, Earth + Lens hopes to see more Filipinos engaged in leading to protect our natural resources.

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