The Sony World Photo Awards 2024 exhibition is on right now – get 10% off your tickets

The ’Houses that Sugar Built: an Intimate Portrait of Philippines Ancestral Homes’ book project was co-authored with the writer Gina Consing McAdam. I was at Gina’s House In London celebrating the successful completion of my photography book on The Lanesborough hotel, for which Gina had written the narrative. 

I saw a small black and white image of what turned out to be her ancestral house in Iloilo in the Philippines (Yusay-Consing Ancestral House in the book), known today as the “Molo Mansion”. 

It looked intriguing and much bigger than an average home in the UK. As I listened to Gina talk about her family’s house and about her family history in general, I wondered if there were more like it and indeed more families like hers. 

It also transpired in that initial conversation that these houses, like many such houses in the Philippines, had not been photographed to any great extent and were not known outside the country. It is these two pieces of information that piqued my interest.

I was familiar with and had experience of creating books and working up photography and book ideas and these exciting facts about a land far away had all the ingredients of such a project – it just lacked some key (albeit major!) ingredients such as raising finance and logistics, but these key components never held me back in the past. 

We set to work on a feasibility study which explored how realistic a book on this topic would be. We were fortunate to get sponsored to go out and do a reconnaissance which included meeting potential sponsors but more importantly to visit and photograph some of the houses to understand if they were indeed rich enough in detail to warrant inclusion in a book. 

It proved feasible and we’re extremely grateful for the generous sponsorship of both corporations and private individuals who believed in what we were trying to do.

My Photography series, ‘Sala Major’ is an edited series from this book.

I captured all the photographs with a Canon EOS 5DS DSLR and three lenses: a Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II tilt-shift, a Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L tilt-shift and a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II, all taken from a tripod with a cable release.

I used natural light, but did use flash for some of the portraits.

Many are still private homes so are not generally open to the public. Some owners have converted their ancestral house into museums, events spaces or restaurants, and are open to the wider public; they have done so with the intention of maintaining and/or sharing their family histories or legacies. 

For example, Balay ni Tana Dicang and The Bernardino Jalandoni are both museums and are open to the public. 

Casa A Gamboa offer bed and breakfast facilities and culinary/event experiences as well. The Gaston Ancestral House offers private dining and heritage tours.

Yes, they generally were. The rooms project the more formal lifestyle of the families, which were rooted in ritual and tradition. 

When the houses were first constructed, the purpose of these rooms was generally to receive visitors or for entertainment – parties, balls, performances. 

You can see that the furniture is not designed for lounging around; seats are stiff backed and often made from native timber.

The large open space is as much about the climate. The year-round heat and humidity call for space and good airflow to create a comfortable environment in which to live. 

Some did resonate more than others, for a variety of reasons. For example, the sala mayor (living room) at the Pison House for its magnificent window onto to the city and the stage-like room setup that lent itself to so many readings and possibilities. 

You enter this room by stepping off a staircase from the ground floor. (The living quarters and public spaces were mainly located on the upper floors in these houses.) 

Or the stained-glass features in the Celso Ledesma House and the Hormillosa-Locsin House, again enhancing a feeling of wonderment upon entering the room from a steep dark stairwell.

On practical level, the wonderfully carved calados in the Bernardino Jalandoni Museum – skilfully decorated/carved vents transporting fresh air throughout the building – as necessary and varied as the Victorian fireplaces in European homes and equally crucial, helping to create a temperature that is comfortable. 

Also, the architecture and the locations – I think the architecture of some of the exteriors are very striking and beautiful. Molo Mansion and The Boat House, although very different, both have a distinctive style: Spanish Colonial and Art Deco respectively. 

They are also both located off busy streets and yet when you enter both properties you feel transported back to another time, far away from the hustle and bustle of the streets outside.