IN TIMES OF CUARESMA.....

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After.....





Before.....





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Before.....





After.....






If there was a time in the life of Jesus that can be so dramatic and epic in its depiction, it is His life story leading to the events of His death. Even Hollywood has delved in the life of Christ with Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" being the last one.

I look forward to the Lenten Season every year. The usual sounds of the hustle and bustle of the streets of Manila turn into a quiet rumble of church goers who flock to the churches and prepare themselves for the observance of the holiday. And it also happens to be a season worth taking photographs of. But one also has to search for it though.

Places like Angeles and Cutud in Pampanga are sure places where photographers can really expect to have great pictures of Lent. But it does take a special mental frame for one to do so. Squeamish people are advised to back away as the blood and gore may be too much for them to handle. And if you also happen to be someone who abhors extremely hot weather while shooting, then better stay at home too. Lent is associated with summer and summers in the Philippines nowadays are getting hotter and hotter, perhaps a result of global warming. Too bad though that these places, Cutud in particular have turned into a tourist fiesta, what with the sheer number of people, both local and foreign trooping to the site to watch a few men get crucified to the cross.

An alternative to shooting live penitential scenes are to shoot statues and tableau that depict the Sorrowful Mysteries of Christ. I remember watching in awe the Good Friday procession that featured life sized statues that told the story when I was young. What impressed me was the attention to detail and the realism that the sculptors of these statues showed. How does one sculpt teardrops and blood drops? A statue of a suffering Christ that showed distended veins in His hands and neck used to scare me a lot. And who can forget those menacing looks of the Roman soldiers? But my all time favorite is a statue that shows a human expression, whether it be about anger, sorrow or any other emotion. A statue may be made out of wood or marble and are therefore cold, but the expression it exhibits in my eye, makes it human.

The group Hermandad de la Sagrada Pasion de Jesus asked the club to take pictures of their Lenten statues and some of the photos shall be used for a coffee table book that the group is pursuing to publish in the future. The group is composed of families who own and take care of these life sized statues and are usually being taken out of their respective houses to be paraded around their community during the Good Friday procession. We accepted their proposal and took the job seriously. The cramped space proved to be a big challenge though so a lot of post processing work had to be done for each. Some turned out to be hits, some were misses. Pfffffttttt!

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?.....ROMANCE?.....

Isabel Fox, Played by Ana Santos.....





Charles Norton, Acted Out by Audie Gemora.....





Pinky Marquez as Ruth Norton.....





Chinggoy Alonzo as George Fox.....

















I have never missed a photo op when called upon. Though agreeing to come to shoot one depends on whether I love the subject and the concept enough for me to show up. I have said it a million times (well probably a few times in this blog), I love watching theater plays. And to come across a play that is not a musical and whose storyline I have no idea, is somewhat a challenging task for me.

For the club's next project with Repertory, we were tasked to shoot a romantic comedy. Romance in D was written by James Sherman and is about the tale of two lonely people; Isabel Fox played by Anna Santos and Charles Norton played by Audie Gemora. Supporting the two were Pinky Marquez, who takes the role of Ruth who is George's mother and Chinggoy Alonzo who is Isabel's father George.

I was late for about 30 minutes. By the time I arrived, I had a few minutes left to shoot some frames until the intermission came. I was stuck in a terrible traffic jam, making me wish that I should have taken the MRT going to Makati instead.

Too bad that I didn't get to start the play. It seemed interesting and funny enough for it to even elicit a laugh among the handful of watchers who were there. Me? Well I just decided to concentrate on taking the pictures than watching the play that I didn't start watching in the first place. But I liked the ending though, with each couple finding their true loves..... Sweet!!!!!

THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR.....

The Friends of Rep.....





In The Pool.....










Rem Zamora, Katrina Holigores and Ayam Barredo Strike a Pose.....






And Pose.....





And Pose.....






And Pose!!!!!






I received an urgent text from John F. one day, asking me for my availability to shoot on such a short notice. Apparently, he was called by one of the staff from Repertory Philippines, asking him to shoot a group of people who have supported the theater company in one way or the other and thus are "Friends of Rep". The shoot was scheduled in the after noon of a working day and was to take place in one of those plush houses in Dasmarinas Village. Further information provided by John revealed it was to be shot inside the residence of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Joe De Venecia whose position as speaker is being rocked in turmoil at the moment. Photographs taken from the shoot shall be published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer broadsheet with a corresponding article to be written by Katrina Holigores. John, new member Edwin and I went to the location shoot.

A part of me got curious to see the De Venecia abode at its present state. Who can forget the news scene one Christmas day when footage of his burning house was shown in every local tv station which resulted in the death of his youngest daughter. I vividly recall watching JDV and his wife Gina silently crying as they watched their house, the top floor drenched with water as the fire had been put out, knowing that their daughter died because of it. It was reported that the cause of the fire was the faulty Christmas lights that adorned the house. Reporters also said that KC De Venecia hid in the bathroom when she couldn't get out of the grilled windows.

Chris De Venecia has grown! I remember him as the speaker's son who once was a child actor. I saw the infamous house. Gone were the iron grills that were at the windows. I suppose the house now had a more airy feel than before. And it was a real pleasure to shoot these yuppy art patrons with some assistance from Rep's Marketing Directors Rem Zamora and Ayam Barredo. Miss Holigores was also there to give as a brief of what kind of vibe does she want the pictures to show.

The shoot didn't take us that long. We called it a wrap after two hours. We talked about when we shall expect the photos to appear in the newspaper and also talked about future opportunities with the paper. We bade our goodbyes and left. As for the speaker's troubles? He got kicked out of his post at the end of that day when the House had a "no confidence" vote for him. I guess his son Chris won't be liking that outcome. All his life, he has known his father as the speaker, nothing less than that. Such is life, a spinning wheel.