Informal Settlements and Shanty Towns, Photographed in Real Detail

Why accurate reference matters here

Games and films often show informal settlements as a uniform pile of rust and rubbish. Real neighbourhoods are different. They have lanes, shops, workshops, places of worship and, in many Philippine neighbourhoods, a basketball court that serves as the public square. Houses are repaired, painted and extended over years. People build carefully with the materials they can get, and the result has its own logic.

When artists work from real reference, the place on screen becomes specific and believable, and the people who live in places like these are shown with more respect. That is the purpose of these packs.

Materials: what people build with

Each pack shows how a structure is actually put together, joint by joint:

• Corrugated steel. The Corrugated Steel Slums Corner (67 photos, Manila, $4.99) shows houses made entirely of steel sheets in different colours. The Wooden Slum House with Corrugated Roof (122 photos, Cebu) adds a timber frame and interior shots of the ground floor.
• Bamboo. Bamboo Pier and Bamboo Floating Bridge (126 photos, Thailand) shows bamboo walkways that are cheap and quick to build but functional enough to use every day.
• Concrete and brick. The Phillippines Slums Compound (257 photos) is a more established neighbourhood with piped water and solid brick houses along narrow lanes.
• Paint and colour. Colourful Favelas Phillippines (256 photos, Luzon) shows a neighbourhood painted in bright colours, with narrow passages and aerial views.

Building on water

Many settlements grow where land is free because no one else can use it: river banks, bays and flood plains. The Cambodian Stilted Fisherman Village stands on tall stilts above the rainy-season floods. A second pack shows the same village at twilight (171 photos). Manila Bayside Slums moves from solid houses at the shore to lighter bamboo piers and bridges over the water. Manila Riverside Slums (322 photos) was shot from a boat, and Bangkok Canal Dwellings (314 photos) follows homes along the city's canals.

Building upward

When space runs out, communities build up. In the Tall Concrete River Slums Town in a narrow valley on Luzon, buildings share a concrete frame, but each floor is designed by the family who lives there. The Under The Bridge pack (149 photos, Cebu) shows homes built into the structure of an overpass, much like houses once built on medieval European bridges. The Hillside Slums pack (187 photos) shows a neighbourhood across the street from Manila's business district, with many different building methods side by side.

Homes among the tombs

In Manila, some families live inside a large cemetery, building homes between and above family tombs. The Inhabited Filippino Cemetery Slums pack (392 photos) documents this community. It shows how people adapt a place that was never meant for housing. If you use it, depict the tombs and the residents with the same respect.

Frequently asked questions

Why do you say "informal settlement" as well as "slum"?

"Slum" is the word most artists search for, so we use it. "Informal settlement" and "shanty town" describe these places more accurately: neighbourhoods built by residents without formal planning or legal title, often because there was no other option.

Are there photos of people?

Some photos show residents going about their day. In Mixed packs, photos with identifiable people sit in a separate Editorial folder. You can use them as reference, but not in ads or on products for sale. Please never turn a real person from these photos into a caricature.

Are all the packs in Asia?

Most are in the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia. The Shanty Town in Dunes pack (52 photos) shows a self-contained hut village near Newcastle, Australia, built without central water, power or sewage.

Do any packs show interiors?

Yes. The Philippino Slum Dormitory pack (238 photos, Manila) includes the rooms inside, and the wooden Cebu house includes its ground floor. For the street life around these neighbourhoods, see Asian street and night market reference.