The Ground

New Clark City, Tarlac, Philippines · in progress

## The 100-word version (pitch emails, review cards)

The ground where the Bataan Death March ended — Camp O'Donnell, Tarlac, later a US military base — is becoming a US-aligned semiconductor hub under Pax Silica. The United States asked for the zone to run under its own law and was refused. The memorial to the 27,000 who died there is inside the development's boundary. Construction is not expected before 2028. I was born in the Philippines and left at four; I have two books on work and on leaving. I want to photograph this ground before it is built and while it is built, from the position of someone who is from this country and not of it.

## The three-sentence version (the first line of anything)

The ground where the Bataan Death March ended is becoming a semiconductor hub, and the memorial to the dead is inside the fence. I was born in the Philippines and left; I want to photograph this before it is built. Construction is not expected before 2028.

Research phase. First scouting trip 2027. The photographs below are from the Philippines, 2011–2012, and show the ground this project stands on.