St. Isabella Tower, Manila

This oban woodblock print depicts St. Isabella Tower in Manila, a colonial-era landmark from the Philippines' centuries under Spanish rule. The tower, likely a church bell tower or fortification element, rises from the urban fabric of old Manila's Intramuros district, where Spanish colonial architecture defined the cityscape. Keith's composition uses the vertical thrust of the tower as an organizing element, with the surrounding buildings and street life providing context and human scale. The print records a Manila that still bore the heavy imprint of Spanish colonialism, with Catholic church architecture dominating the skyline. Keith visited the Philippines before the devastating destruction of World War II, which would level much of the historic city, giving her prints unintended documentary importance as records of an architectural heritage subsequently lost.