Noel Celis

Photographer

BIOGRAPHY

Noel ventured into news photography for two local newspapers, The Manila Times in 2005 and The Manila Bulletin in 2007, covering different beats like police, sports and lifestyle. In 2009, Noel joined AFP as a photo correspondent where he was able to shoot disasters like typhoon Ketsana. He was among the first photographers to arrive immediately after Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines.

AFP assigned him to the Beijing bureau in China from 2019 to 2023, where he covered the COVID-19 pandemic, political assignments, and feature stories. Now a freelancer, he shoots for Greenpeace and the Associated Press as a stringer.

He has been covering the impact of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, including conditions in overcrowded jails. 

PHOTOS: Four Storms, Ten Days

Four consecutive cyclones, three of which developed into typhoons, hit the Philippines in a matter of days in late October and early November 2024. Tropical Storm Trami, followed by Typhoons Yinxing, Toraji, and Usagi left a trail of destruction, mostly in the northern Luzon region. A Philippine Climate Change Assessment Cycle report points to a 210% increase in typhoons hitting the Philippines since 2012, and other studies indicate that the climate crisis is intensifying extreme rainfall and flooding worldwide.