About
A short-hand version of my government name since my last name in Tagalog can translate to “build” or to “make”. Just a name that has the potential to grow into whatever it wants to be.
“DARE MAKER”?
(4 Questions from Nick’s “Capturing photographers” project)
I think it was a combination of things happening at all the right times but in general, watching a lot of movies. It likely stemmed out of me wanting to direct movies being inspired by various directors and movie makers over high school. Photography feels like an outlet for those creative energies in a smaller and more accessible scale where I also didn't tend to need a team to produce output I wanted to create. I honestly didn't identify as a photographer for a long time and thought of myself as more of a fan of imagery and storytelling but photos and cinema do go hand-in-hand so it made sense to explore it further.
WHAT MADE YOU BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER?
WHAT DO PHOTOGRAPHS MEAN TO YOU? NOT JUST YOURS BUT THE ART IN GENERAL?
Growing up, my parents were avid film photographers that focused on collecting family memories into photo albums to look back on much like many people were doing back in the day. This was my early relationship with it and especially as a child, it's what I thought was the only reason photos were for, full stop. I think what photos mean to me has evolved greatly since then in many ways but I think the spirit of what my parents did with photos still hold true at the center of it all. If "life is but a dream", then photographs are documentations of the little details we soon forget after we wake up.
THEY SAY YOUR WORK OUTLIVES YOU. WHAT’S ONE SHOOT OR PHOTO YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED FOR? (IT’S OK IF IT HASN”T HAPPENED YET)
Hard question - I'm not sure I want to be remembered for a shoot or photo at all? I think I'd want to be remembered more for who I was and the things I did for people (maybe through photography or not) versus a body of work. That way, my catalog after I die can be genuinely enjoyed by people that gave a fuck about me when I was around and understood that I just did what I loved to do. The rest can just look at my photos and interpret it however they want - if they enjoy it or hate it or think it’s whatever, all is cool with me. It's just a damn shame that I'm already dead and can't talk to you to ask you why.
IF LET’S SAY THE INTERNET DIDN’T EXIST, WOULD YOU STILL BE A PHOTOGRAPHER?
1000% especially since I started shooting film before Instagram even came out anyways. It is weird to think about now because social media didn't feel like a portal to be able to reach out to the rest of the world until way later on in my life. Why did I need to share my personal life with strangers? So back then, it was simply a tool for me to talk with friends I knew in real life when we were all at home. Now it's evolved in a way that people are given a stage to share talents with an audience - definitely not a deal-breaker when it comes to the reasons why I shoot.