Yes, Carl Mydans was indeed an excellent photographer and this series of images would have been done for Life Magazine. Carl is also known for excellent work for the Farm Security Association (FSA) photo project. I would not go so far as to suggest that any of these images were "staged". Posed would be a better term as the people were there with there weapons already and he probably just asked them to strike a pose. It is interesting that they would all turn out with their swords for a visit from Manuel Elizalde. Elizalde has a rather complex history, at once a proponent for the rights of minority peoples and also apparently a master con man who invented a story about discovering a "Stone Age" tribe of people (Tasaday Hoax) living the the hills that he kept up until after he and his wife fled the Philippines with millions of dollars from the foundation he set up for this isolated tribe.
I find it interesting that the Tboli would consider a visit from Elizalde to be a time to carry their weapons if this was not a common practice in some regard, if not on a daily basis, but whenever they hosted any official visitations from "dignitaries".
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