the Big Picture
When Xyza Cruz Bacani told her mother, Georgia, that she wanted a camera, the idea was quickly shut down. “I told her cameras are for rich people,” says Georgia. Her mother wasn’t being miserly or unkind. She was simply being honest. At the time, both women were working in Hong Kong as domestic helpers and saving every penny to send back to their family in the Philippines so Xyza’s siblings could go to college.
But Xyza persisted and their employer, Kathryn Louey, chairman of Wai Hung Enterprises and the Wai Hung Charitable Foundation, offered Xyza an advance to buy an SLR. “Mrs Louey always wanted me to have something for myself, and she always wanted me to learn new things and be happy,” says Xyza. “I think she thought I’d really love photography.” None of them knew it at the time, but this act of generosity would change all their lives forever.
Their story begins in 1996, when a human
