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Xyza Cruz Bacani, a Filipina working as a domestic worker in Hong Kong, took the internet by storm last year when the New York Times' Lens Blog featured her stunning street photography.

Photo: Xyza Cruz Bacani 
On Thursday, she announced on Facebook that she had been named a Human Rights fellow by the prestigious Magnum Foundation, and will be attending a six-week program at New York University.
"All dreams are valid! I'm going to see new york and finally get a formal education!" Bacani wrote on her Facebook page.

"Hands are always the first thing I noticed. Somehow it shows some character of a man/woman. looked at my archives and I saw loads of images with just hands. Don't judge me.. I just love hands." Photo: Xyza Cruz Bacani
Every year, The Magnum Foundation selects emerging photographers and offers scholarships for the six-week program, which aims to develop students' creative skills in telling human-rights stories in their home counties.
One of the themes Xyza Bacani explores in her work is the abuse of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. Her work "Burn" won her a Hong Kong Justice Centre Choice Award last year.

"Burn" by Xyza Cruz Bacani

"mongkok, october 2014" Photo: Xyza Cruz Bacani
The 27-year-old Filipina came to Hong Kong to work as a domestic worker nine years ago. She told the New York Times that despite having developed an interest in photography in university, she couldn't afford an camera until she moved to Hong Kong, where she bought her first with money borrowed from her boss.
She shoots photographs all around the city, capturing poignant shots of commuters, window cleaners and more.
“For me, photography is a universal language,” she told the Lens Blog. “I’m a Filipino and I’m in a Chinese city, so it’s, like, the language of freedom and equality. Because with photography, there’s no gender, there’s no age, there’s no social status, color or race. We speak one language. And nothing of those stereotypes exist."
Follow Xyza Cruz Bacani on Facebook at www.facebook.com/xbacani.

Photo: Xyza Cruz Bacani


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Photo: Xyza Cruz Bacani

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Photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani, who works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, has been awarded a fellowship by the prestigious Magnum Foundation to attend a six-week course at New York University.
