Feeling a Moment /  by John Javellana

Loving somebody consists of 99% misery. The remaining 1% is emphatically amazing. It’s the kind of warmth and tenderness that one will never have again once lost, but it will always be everlasting. I never thought that happiness can be so petrifying. Once I got hold of it, nevermore did I want any other feeling, as if it was the only emotion that I’ll ever need. But every feeling of euphoria eventually has an end, resulting to an agony one has to mend.

People love looking at photographs because they have the power to seize both moments and emotions. Precious fragments of time, a thing that we can only freeze through the medium. A friend of mine told me that photographs is a reflection of us. As one holds the camera to take a photo, pressing the shutter and trapping the image we see.. No matter how we took it.. Anybody can tell how one feels simply by looking at that shot. I never believed it until I saw my own emotions in this photo that I took.

Love is just like that. It is made of the analogous aspects that surround a photograph. It is something that is permanent yet has fleeted away. A wonderful ardor that one cannot replicate. Ironic it may be, it is something that we have but at the same time don’t. An impossible feeling that you cannot redo.. Because it will always be an unrewindable moment.

Reprezent /  by John Javellana



Geric Cruz and Tammy David win at the 3rd ASEAN-Korea Mutimedia Competition

Last June 16, it was announced that photographers Geric Cruz, 26, and Tammy David, 28,were chosen to represent the Philippines in Seoul, Korea, for a seminar and multimedia workshop participated in by established professors and artists. This is for winning in the 3rd ASEAN-Korea Multimedia Competition, both artists receiving notable scores among the entries submitted by the Philippines.

Joining David and Cruz will be other winners from Brunei, Cambodia, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam. The winning entries will be exhibited from July 28 to August 14, 2011 at the Palais de Seoul, a gallery in Seoul, Korea, and will also be exhibited online.

Both David’s and Cruz’ work are documentaries. David’s Crown and Country (recepient of special prize) explores the human aspect of beauty pageants in the Philippines while Love, Mom (winner) is an intimate portrait of Cruz’ grandmother.

“I’m happy that they (Silverlens) are pushing documentary work…not that it’s under the radar, but it doesn’t really have a place in galleries,” says Cruz.

Inspired by the unconditional love that a mom has for her child (something that Cruz saw in his mother and grandmother), he beautifully captured his grandmother through a series of photographs set in their home.

In aninag.org, David describes how the aspect of competition in beauty pageants appealed to her because it showed a lot of its human side: “The staunch supporters, the predominantly gay beauty queen trainers and the unlikely contestants, each have their own motivations in being part of this surreal world.”

Both artists are products of the Silverlens Photography Workshops and are grateful on how the experience has benefited them both as artists and as people.

“…taking the workshops and Silverlens being open to portfolio reviews. It gives you the discipline to take more pictures, to constantly focus on your projects and constantly editing your portfolio until its perfect,” expresses David.

The 3rd ASEAN-Korea Multimedia Competition is under ASEAN-Korea Centre, an intergovernmental organization promoting economic and socio-cultural cooperation of Korea and ASEAN. It is supported by the ASEAN, ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information, ASEAN University Network, Alternative Space LOOP and Hongik University.

For more information, visit http://www.asean.org
Words by Jel Tordesillas; Image: from Crown and Country by Tammy David

Back to the Suck /  by John Javellana

Weddings20113143A

Back doing weddings again.. I must admit that it’s not the most elating practice of photography especially here in the Philippines wherein one’s aesthetics and feel could easily and inevitably be tainted by the popular demand. Think Storyline vs telenovela flicks — yes, that far. 

I suddenly remembered why I stopped shooting weddings 2 years ago. It is just so damn taxing but it’s a necessary evil for me today. I know the profession calls for us to deliver all the wishes and even the smallest of whims the client asks for and I don’t blame them. It’s somewhat embedded in the culture.

 But every once in a while you meet a couple who wants to have something out of the norm; a couple who lets you do what you’re professed to do - capturing important, essential and impactful moments that are meant to be timeless and would always remind them of their special day, who they were and how they felt that very same day whenever they see the photos 10, 20, 30 years from now. Which is what wedding photography is for me. Not trying to make fashion models out of the couples who clearly are not; not the stale thrown-away veil shots; basically not trying to turn the couple to something they are not. 

I know sometimes it’s the couple who wants these things but we as photographers should know if it is for them or not. They have every right to demand as clients, who hire and pay us. But our profession gives us the right and responsibility to make it right. Yes we are in the craft of providing clients our services but it does not mean that we do everything they want to the point of allowing them to look bad. Forced. To the point it’s silly at times. It’s a basic fact in life that sometimes what we want is not the thing for us.

We all carry the “wedding photographer” metier along with us everytime we shoot. Admit it — it’s something that isn’t that respected in our country nowadays but it is up to us to uplift that image one wedding at a time.

Bahaghari /  by John Javellana

Bahaghari
I guess you can state it as a fact that not everybody could claim that they saw an actual end of a rainbow for even just once in their lifetime. I was enchanted with its resplendent grandness as I was mixed with the ironic feeling of anxiety and unease as we sailed past the pirate waters of Basilan. One would usually ask where the hell the pot of gold is but I realized that actually seeing it is as good as finding the myth true. My photograph doesn’t do justice to what I saw - it was more vibrant, more captivating and engrossing in person.  Just another example on why pictures alone could never replace actually being there.