The National Museum of Natural History has been one of the many places I've been wanting to visit within Manila. Last August, I finally paid a visit and spent the whole afternoon getting to know a little more about the history of my home and immersing myself with the architecture. Though we visited on a weekday, a lot of people were still present. But it's better than the really long lines from the first few weeks of the opening.
A lot of the areas were still closed but we managed to spend the whole afternoon reading more about different artifacts and fossils from the Philippines. I can't wait for the time where every room in the building will be filled with nothing but more interesting facts about the rich history of this archipelago.
We were able to sweep the area with a few minutes to spare before the museum closed. Since we had nothing else to do, we took portraits instead. Well, in this case, I got my portraits taken!
As an architecture student, what excited me the most is how they made use of the courtyard. It's not like their other museums where they kept the courtyard open. With this one, it was covered and people can really spend their time to unwind and get a bit of rest from all the walking inside the museum.
Not only is this museum filled with so much history, but it is also a place for learning for us architecture enthusiasts. Not gonna lie, I spent much more time admiring the design of the place than the actual displays about our history. There was so much detail put into the design and I would go back there in a heartbeat just to admire it even more.
As someone who is used to being behind the camera, I had a hard time thinking of what to do with my body. It's hard because sometimes you think of a pose or a whole vibe but executing it is much much harder. I remember asking repeatedly if my poses looked alright or if they were really awkward, hahaha! There were also moments were we both just stood in silence because we had no idea what to do anymore.
It was also hard to pick areas where there weren't much people since this place was packed when we went there. This is why majority of the portraits were taken from the outdoors, when we went outside since it was already the museum's closing time.
Majority of my portraits were awkward and these are just some that are meh and passable, I guess. It felt nice to be in front of a camera for a change. I'm glad I was able to do it with a photographer that I trust, hahaha! So there's less of my awkwardness and we were able to communicate in order to make this possible.
So, yeah. It was a fun experience, being the subject of a photograph for a change. And no doubt, I'd love to go back to National Museum. This is probably my favorite from the other museums since they made use of the courtyard in a brilliant way. I suggest you guys pay a visit to all the museums of National Museum since the entrance is free and you get to gain so much knowledge after each visit.
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