Eduardo Masferré (Philippines, 1909-1955) is regarded as the patriarch of Filipino photography. He began to photograph as a missionary on Luzon, the island where he was born. From 1934 he devoted himself to the documentation of the Igorots, mountain tribes with a reputation as merciless headhunters. Masferré wanted to record their lives before they were overtaken by modern times. After the Second World War he opened a photo studio. He supported his rapidly growing family with agricultural activities, which brought him still closer to the lives of the Igorots. Masferré intended to present a complete portrait. A PHILIPPINE ARCADIA (1935-1955) shows not only the proud faces of the Igorots, but also their manner of life, their work and their rice fields, which were built against the mountain slopes in striking terraces. The importance of his work was recognized only outside The Philippines. The Filipinos initially had little use for photographs that showed them primarily as a primitive people. Only in the 1980s, with the rise of a national consciousness, did Masferré's work find acceptance in his own country. Exhibitions in Manila followed, and his book on the Filipino tribes became assigned reading in the nation's schools. In 1989 he became the only Filipino photographer to ever have an exhibition at the Arles photo festival. A year later the American National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. bought 120 of the Igorot photographs.

Presently Eduardo Masferré is being compared with the American Edward S. Curtis, who photographed the Indian tribes of North America at the beginning of the 20th century. Both left behind an oeuvre as elegant as it is meticulous, which is regarded in both historical and artistic circles as of the utmost value.