susancorpuz is a student at the University of the Philippines while working as a freelance photojournalist, writer, illustrator, web developer/ administrator. Based in the Philippines, she specializes in news events, portraits, and documentary photography. She has written documentary reports and statements for corporate foundations and CSOs/NGOs. She is currently working on a long term research project on indigenous peoples. Her academic interests are in the arts, and cultural and social anthropology.

She is an activist and has always been deeply involved and engaged in conversations with various activist groups for alliance building, women’s rights, human rights, indigenous peoples rights, and environmental rights.

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Formally trained at St. Scholastica’s College as a pianist for 11 years from when she was 6 years old, she eventually earned her professional proficiency certificate at age 13 at the same institution. Afterwards, she expanded her skills in the arts such as painting, graphic arts, photography, and also explored acting, ballet, Latin dance, violin and guitar.

She enjoys tinkering with computers and gadgets, and anything to do with books, design, and publishing. 😊 She’s an animal lover, a stargazer, a treehugger, vegan wannabe, martial arts enthusiast. She collects jokes and inspirational stories, practices compassion, mindful meditation and sometimes yoga. Being a kulasa, she follows the Benedictine motto — Ora et Labora (Prayer and Work).

She owns and operates Mandiga Designs, an art and crafts store; and in her free time hits the keyboard hoping to finish The Fieldnotesapp someday.

Namaste

CV

SUSANCORPUZ

E-mail: susan.corpuz@gmail.com, sbcorpuz@upd.edu.ph

Website: https://www.susancorpuz.com
Birthplace: Manila, Philippines
Languages: Tagalog (fluent), English (fluent), Spanish (intermediate), Visayan (intermediate)
Programming Languages/Technology Summary: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, Ruby on Rails, WordPress, Adobe lllustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop
Organizations: Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao, Inc. (UGAT) Anthropological Association of the Philippines, Photojournalists’ Centre of the Philippines (PCP), LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights), SAMASA (Sandigan para sa Mag-aaral at Sambayanan) University of the Philippines Alumni Association

Key Qualifications

• Research and technical writing
• Documentation, transcription, and translation (Tagalog, Visayan, English)
• Fine arts, illustrations, graphic arts, and photography
• Web development and design
• Organizational and Project Management

Educational background

• Post Graduate (Candidate): M.A. in Art Studies, Art History Major, University of the Philippines-Diliman. University Scholar, CWA: 1.22 [with 6 units in Anthropology, 6 units in Mass Communication Theories and Applications, and 3 units (Ph.D.) in  Political Communication]
• Baccalaureate Degree in Fine Arts, University of the Philippines-Diliman, 1998
• Certificate in Spanish Intermediate Course, Instituto Cervantes, Manila
• Secondary and Elementary: St. Scholastica’s College, Manila

Current and recent work experiences

• Contributing photographer, THOMSON REUTERS.
• Contributing photographer, EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY (EPA).
• Documenter, IP Struggle and the Law: A Policy Review, held in PRRM on October 2018, organized by Legal Resource Center – FRIENDS OF THE EARTH-PHILIPPINES (LRC-KsK). The conference discussed and assessed the IPRA, charter change and federalism, policies and issues affecting human security and economic rights.
• Lead documenter, National Conference on Food Sovereignty held in U.P. Diliman, October 2018, organized by Focus on the Global South. This conference was attended by organizations from the women, workers, peasants, fisherfolks sectors and Indigenous Peoples.
• Documenter and writer for the State of the Indigenous People (SIPA) 2018 held in Quezon City, organized by LILAK, LRC, Focus, Mindanao People Peace Movement (MPPM), etc. and attended by leaders of indigenous groups nationwide.
• Lead documenter for RESISTERS’ DIALOGUE, a conference of indigenous and rural women in Southeast Asia held in Quezon City, November 2017. This conference was attended by women from Indonesia, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, India, and the Philippines, and was held in conjunction with the ASEAN Leaders’ Conference.
• Managing staff during the special coverage on Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). EPA. Person in charge in monitoring and controlling expenses and all other administrative tasks; coordinating efforts and logistical needs of the photographers in the field; researching, vetting, and gathering of reports and news photos; reports directly to the regional chief.
• Commissioned writer of the “7-point IP Agenda for Regions XI, XII, and ARMM” and Lead Documenter of the Indigenous People’s Regional Consultation held in Davao City on August 28 to September 1, 2016. One of the outputs of the IP consultation was to formulate a 15-year agenda and action plans for Zero Extreme Poverty 2030 — a movement initiated by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), NGOs, CSOs, sectoral groups, business groups, government agencies, and members from the academe and media.
• Commissioned writer and researcher of “TLADC Landscape Analysis” for LRC-KsK and Timuay for Justice and Governance-Teduray Lambangian Ancestral Domain Claimants (TJG-TLADC) in August 2016.
• Commissioned Writer/Documenter/Infographics Illustrator for LRC-TJG-TLADC-Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA) Inception Planning held in Maguindanao in June 2016.
• Writer and documenter for the National and Regional Indigenous Women’s Gatherings since 2012. These gatherings were organized by LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights) with the support of other agencies and organizations such as Legal Resource Center (LRC), National Rural Women Coalition (PKKK), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Action Aid, Commission on Human Rights, Commission on Women, Samdhana Institute, etc. Most cited and republished documents are “IPinay: Aming Katawan, Kalusugan, Kultura, at Karapatan” (2015), “Forging Indigenous Women Solidarity Towards a Collective Struggle for Rights” (2012), “A Common Vision, Collection Actions: Indigenous Women’s Gathering in ARMM” (2014).
• Researcher, writer and photographer of “Indigenous Women Community Profiling of Selected Areas in Caraga Region” for Amnesty International. February 2014.
• Writer/Documenter for the League of Corporate Foundations (LCF)’s annual conference in 2007.

Projects

Commissioned works include logo design, graphic design, audio visual presentation, photography,  layout, infographics, and art work. Other commissioned works as web designer/developer/photographer wherein details of work include HTML, PHP and javascript encoding, online calendar, online registration, online form to email, online forum.

• Illustrations for NTFP-EP and SIANI. 2020.
• Resource Guide for Monitoring Extractives (for Women Environmental and Human Rights Defenders). 2019. Non-timber Forest Products – Exchange Programme Inc. Asia or NTFP-ASIA. (illustrations and layout)
• Women in Action on Mining in Asia (WAMA). 2019. (logo)
• Rural and Indigenous Women’s Rights and the Challenges to Extractives Governance in the Philippines. 2017. Author: judy a. pasimio. (co-editing, layout and design)
• CEDAW Shadow Report: Indigenous Women and Mining in the Philippines with CEDAW Concluding Observations on the Combined Seventh and Eighth Periodic Reports of the Philippines. July 2016. (co-editing, layout and design)
• Handbook ng mga Batas para sa Katutubong Kababaihan. Tomo 1. 2015. Ed. judy a. pasimio. (co-editing, proofreading, layout, design, and photos)
• Mining and Violence Against Rural and Indigenous Women in the Philippines. 2014. Author: judy a. pasimio. (co-editing, proofreading, layout, design, and photos)
• Lilak.net (website)
• Infomap for Baguio 2009 edition (photographs)
• Enterprise Magazine (photographs)
• Baguio Centennial Commission (photographs)
• M&D Quinley Consulting(website)
• Caregivers Training Center (website)
• Atlas Money (website)
• Oriental Mindoro Investment Summit (website)
• 7107 Placement & Promotions, Inc. (website)
• Pinoydocs (website)
• Timeline (website)
• e-campaigns.ph (website, flyer, logo)
• Tommy Hilfiger for No Curfew (AVP for the Mariah Carey Concert)
• San Miguel Corporation (AVP, interactive CD)
• Philippine Society for Quality Inc. (website and brochure)
• Fedders Koppel (flyer)
• Locator Telecommunications Inc. (website)

Papers (selected), reviews, and research interest

• Demystifying Edsa: Semiotics, Iconography and Power. 2002. (Published in a compendium edited by Arch Gerard Lico, Phd).
• Turumba! Turumba!: Ang Awit, Sayaw at Dasal ng Bayan ng Pakil, Laguna (Recurring Concepts and Elements in Philippine Fiestas and the Emergence of the Fiesta Complex). 2000.
• Continuing the Turumba Tradition. 2001.
• Politics (Protest Actions) Goes Pop: Visual Representations in People Power 2. 2001.
• Art and the Experience of Art: a review on Baxandall’s Painting and Experience in 15^th century Italy. 2017.
• Explorations of the Flesh, Psyche and Spirit at the Yavuz Gallery (Art Fair Philippines). 2018.
• The Covenant Monument: A Representation of Nature, Unity and Renewal (a review on Dean Nestor Vinluan’s Covenant Monument in UP Diliman). 2018.
• The Poetics in Agnes Arellano’s Pleiades. 2018.
• Generating Energies in Mount Apo: Cultural Politics in a Contested Environment by Albert E. Alejo, SJ. 2018. (a book review)
• Weaving Memories, Stringing Her-stories, and Untangling Identities: locating the Balangao of Mt. Province through stories and material culture. 2018.

Research endeavors focus on the documentation and investigation of individual/local/societal experiences and events in the economic, political and socio-cultural spheres of contemporary society; and how institutional and developmental policies affect the lives of people in the grassroots.

Topics: Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Women and children, Environment/Ecology, Globalization, Development, Traditional/Indigenous Art, Contemporary Art, Art and Culture, Material Culture, Aesthetics

Masteral thesis topic: Artifactuality and the Production of Material Culture by the Balangaos of Mt. Province and the Bontocs of Benguet

Conferences and workshops (selected)

• Pagdiriwang: Festivals as Heritage. International Conference on Folklore. NISMED, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. December 2019.
• Vital Wisdoms: Learning with Indigenous Peoples. National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Maryhill School of Theology. Quezon City, Philippines, October 2019.
• Cultural Practices and Policies in the Digital and Global Age. Ateneo de Manila University, 2018.
• Professional Photography Workshop. Photojournalists’ Centre of the Philippines (PCP). 2013.
• Rails Girls Workshop. Ortigas, Philippines, 2012.

Published reportage, creative works and exhibitions

Some photos were published in:

• The New York Times
• Philippine Daily Inquirer
• Rappler
• Interaksyon
• Yahoo News
• Japan Today
• Le Temps
• La Voz de Galicia
• Enterprise Magazine
• Corbis/Demotix
• Deutsche Presse-Agentur
• Thomson Reuters Foundation

Exhibits:

• UNBOUND. An exhibition of works with UPCFA classmates. 2019.
• Trans.FORM (1st of a Series: A Survey on Love & Sexuality) by Aba Lluch Dalena in collaboration with photographers Nana Buxani and Susan Corpuz. National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Gallery, Intramuros, Manila, 2012.
• Bloom. An annual exhibition of works by women artists.
• Reunion. An exhibition of works with UPCFA classmates. 2010.

Employment and business ventures

• GOLDVIEW, INC., December 2005 to present. Goldview is a family-owned property management corporation that assists clients-entrepreneurs who are looking for ideal business locations or residence. Goldview provides services to clients by ensuring complete and honest information on the property they are planning to buy, sell, lease or rent. Goldview owns and manages a property in Butuan which is currently being developed into an agri-tourism spot in Agusan del Norte. The property is now listed in the LGU-DoT as one of the attractions to visit in Butuan.
• IMAGO CONSULTANTS NETWORK, INC. (ICNI), Partner / Treasurer / Web & Graphic Designer, January 2001 to 2005. ICNI provided management consulting services in human resource, organizational development, information technology and marketing. As one of the incorporators, she managed the strategic business development of the company. ICNI’s clients included Caltex, Megalink, San Miguel Corp., RFM, Unioil, Mead Johnson, Rusty Lopez, among others.
• SOCIAL SECURITY COMMISSION, Office of Commissioner Bienvenido E. Laguesma, Executive Assistant, August 1998 to December 2000. As executive assistant, she reported directly to the Secretary of Labor, also the ex-officio commissioner of SSS. Her tasks included writing communiqués, formulating the yearly budget and programs of the office, and reporting to the Department of Labor regarding SSS matters and concerns. She conceptualized and formulated the system behind the “Tulong-Sulong Centre”, the public assistance centre of the commissioner’s office in the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
• RUBEN TORRES FOR SENATOR MOVEMENT, Researcher / Staff, December 1997 to May 1998. She was responsible in setting up and managing the research and monitoring group of the organization for election purposes. She conceptualized and formed the youth and urban poor organizations for campaign and sorties nationwide.
• OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, Malacañang Palace, Researcher, 1997. She was tasked directly by the Executive Secretary to the President of the Republic of the Philippines to research on issues and concerns deemed necessary and significant by him.
• U.P. 66 VENTURES, Production Assistant, 1997. She was responsible in day-to-day monitoring of the film “Kadre” from pre-production stage to public showing. She also acted as representative of the U.P. Law Class ’66 Ventures for this project which was jointly produced by Premiere Entertainment Productions.
• REAL MARKETING CORP., Marketing Assistant, 1996. She assisted the Marketing Head in all marketing and promotion activities and appointed to create the public relations and publicity department of the company. Created/copy edited portfolio of artists such as Ito Rapadas, Harana, and Xs Band.

Youth leadership achievements

• Participant-Representative to the National Youth Commission (NYC) during the transitional government of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2000.
• Educational trip to The Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Switzerland, 1996.
• Delegate, Asian Student Association (ASA), 13th General Conference, Hong Kong, 1996.
• International Liaison Officer, National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), 1995-1996. This organization has more than 600 student council members nationwide.
• Secretary General, NUSP, 1994-1995.
• Editorial Staff, The Filipino Student and Frontline, NUSP’s quarterly and annual publications, 1994-1996.
• University Councilor, University Student Council (USC) of the University of the Philippines Diliman (U.P.-Dil.), 1992-93.
• Vice-chairperson, Education Committee, USC, 1992-93.
• Propaganda Officer, Kalipunan ng Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa U.P. (KASAMA sa U.P.) University of the Philippines, 1992-93. This organization is an alliance of student councils in all campuses of the University of the Philippines System.
• College Representative to the USC, U.P. College of Fine Arts, 1991-92
• Executive Committee Member, Sandigan para sa Mag-aaral at Sambayanan (SAMASA), University of the Philippines, 1990. This organization is a party-alliance of organizations and individuals in the University of the Philippines Diliman Campus.
• Propaganda Officer, Alliance of Concerned Dormitories (ACD), University of the Philippines, 1989-90.

[Updated: 12 December 2020]