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Alex Baluyut: Mastering Life through the Lens and the Ladle

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Maria Virginia Sy

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177231163541420181122-alex-baluyut-pcp18th-workshop-GCS27.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Alex Baluyut gives a lecture on documentary photography during the 13th PCP Professional Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Workshop in Dingalan, Aurora on November 22, 2018.  Gigie Cruz</div>MANILA — Acclaimed photojournalist, documentary photographer, and humanitarian Alejandro ‘Alex’ Baluyut passed away on Friday in Los Baños, Laguna. His passing was confirmed by his wife and Art Relief Mobile Kitchen co-founder, Precious Leano.In a statement, the Photojournalist Center of the Philippines (PCP) paid tribute to Baluyut’s instrumental role in professionalizing photojournalism in the country.As a founding member in 1997, he mentored aspiring photographers through numerous PCP-organized workshops. As an educator, Baluyut motivated a younger generation of visual storytellers to seek the truth and venture off the beaten path to document underreported human rights stories.Baluyut was one of the founding faculty for the Photojournalism program of the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Photojournalism at the Ateneo De Manila University, established with the support of the World Press Photo in 2006.  In 2013, he established the first ever Master Class on Documentary Photography in the Philippines held in Los Baños, Laguna where he settled with his family, helping visual storytellers in effectively chronicle stories around the country.Frank and fierce, at most times unapologetic, he would speak his mind out, not to demean anybody but from a genuine intent to impart his knowledge and critique one&#x27;s work to bring out the best out of his students.As a staff photographer for the Associated Press, Baluyut covered the defining moments of the Marcos regime and the 1986 People Power Revolution. He was recognized with two Philippine National Book Awards: first in 1987 for &#x27;Kasama: A Collection of Photographs of the New People’s Army of the Philippines,&#x27; co-authored with Lenny Limjoco after years of embedding with the NPA, and again in 1995 for &#x27;Brotherhood,&#x27; a look at police brutality in Manila co-authored with Gemma Luz Corotan.This was followed by &#x27;Gikan sa Area&#x27; (From the Area), a project documenting Mindanao.In an <a href="https://documentaryphotographyphilippines.blogspot.com/2009/01/alex-baluyut.html">interview</a> with Cris Sevilla in 2010, Baluyut explained that documentary photography was a means of coming to terms with oneself.“What I love about documentary? The isolation. It’s really when you come to terms with yourself. When you’re totally free. When you have to be a man. Or a woman. Being yourself in photojournalism is a very, very hard thing to carry. Towards the end, it’s always you. Never underestimate the power of an individual statement, a personal vision, which might be your own. That’s the way I survived,” Baluyut said.But the legacy he leaves behind goes beyond his books or his lectures on influential photographers like W. Eugene Smith.It exists in the wisdom he shared while covering the significant stories of his time. His generous spirit and humility inspired a new breed of photojournalists to become effective visual storytellers.In 2017, disturbed by the rising cases of extrajudicial killings, Baluyut returned to the field to document the violence alongside fellow photographers. Ever mindful of the toll such work takes, he expressed genuine concern for his colleagues, ensuring that photojournalists were supported and recognized for the difficult task of documenting human rights violations.Baluyut’s generosity extended far beyond photojournalism. In 2013, he and his partner co-founded the Art Relief Mobile Kitchen (ARMK) to provide hot meals for those affected by Typhoon Yolanda.Since then, <a href="https://corporate.abs-cbn.com/newsroom/news-releases/2021/6/25/iba-yan-honors-ngo-for-providing-food-to-people?lang=fil" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ARMK</a> has consistently mobilized to assist people displaced by disasters.His life stood as a testament to his genuine concern for uplifting others, whether through his camera or his pots and ladles.

Acclaimed photojournalist, documentary photographer, and humanitarian Alejandro ‘Alex’ Baluyut passed away on Friday in Los Baños, Laguna. His passing was confirmed by his wife and Art Relief Mobile Kitchen co-founder, Precious Leano.

Acclaimed photojournalist, documentary photographer, and humanitarian Alejandro ‘Alex’ Baluyut passed away on Friday in Los Baños, Laguna. His passing was confirmed by his wife and Art Relief Mobile Kitchen co-founder, Precious Leano.

Alex Baluyut: Mastering life through the lens and the ladle

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Alex Baluyut: Mastering life through the lens and the ladle

Gigie Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 01, 2026 11:35 AM PHT

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Updated Mar 01, 2026 04:01 PM PHT

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Alex Baluyut

documentary photography

photojournalism

Photojournalists' Center of the Philippines

Art Relief Mobile Kitchen

ACFJ

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