Sa Kambas ng Lipunan

My research on a video project leads me to find a very touching and inspiring work of an artist. The message made a big impact and delved to my inner self. It teaches me how to value and appreciate life. It touched me with its sincerity of execution through his canvas. Obviously, there is social cancer that has been prevailing around us that we simply deny to ourselves that it exist and get blinded by the reality of it. We see all these kind of situations everywhere and immediate action is salient. But where do we start from here?

Through Joey Velasco's work, I saw the true picture of our society. The depressing sights that linger around and continue to cause grief and sorrows that is vividly defined as Poverty. It is precisely depicted on his obra, "The Last Supper" where it integrates social relevance by putting street children instead of apostles with Jesus. These children has a "colorful" stories of their own.

He made a difference by sharing his talents and come up with this video to share his work and social campaign. I am proud of his work so to speak. It is a successful "video virals" for any commercial site with same relevance and worth for commendation.

What is important , he had made his point and had delivered his message clearly and powerful. I just can't imagine, that such video campaign should come from an ordinary painter and not to our elected politicians who had so many promises for our country.

Joey Velasco used this medium to enlighten us. How I wish I could also do the same work similar to this video. Try to reflect, as you watch it 'coz if you do, you can understand your own value. Allow me to share his work through this blog.

Have made it to the EPIX-O6!

An invitation came for the 2006 Epson Photo Imaging Exposition Culminating Day. Its from the organizing director himself and fellow photog Mr. Ross Capili the director of One Workshop Studio. I'm glad that i was one of its 200 selected few to be honored and be featured on a photography book. T'was an accidental entry that I can consider and was lucky enough to have a single entry that have made it to the finals.

Here's an excerpt from the book:


EPix06- Preserving the past, capturing the present

By Yugel Losorata

Both the images of the past and the present possess a sense of absolute power. They take individual full control and recognition by means of a powerful medium called
photography.The magnificence of the past is always a target of extinction while the present, a window view for reinvention. Thus, a photographer' s job is to capture the images that show their authority; loudly saying that looking back is paying homage to the present while seeing today is honoring the past.

Architectural sights and home stuff of yesteryears provide an exciting visual journey back to a period when all of today has yet to exist. While current portraits of ordinary people, attending to their daily exploits, are details our generation can really be proud of and pass it over to the future of this land. The Philippines, known as a country rich in heritage and a nation which gave birth to modern society's people power revolution, is nevertheless a paradise on its own, boasting endearing images of the old as well as poignant pictures of everyday Pinoys' resolve which the digital age neighborhood sensibly describes as heroic.

The sweet, good harvest of photographs featured in this collection has successfully
empowered both the value of preserving the look and style of the old times and freezing the genuine tales of today's common tao via the art of imaging. Preserving, because most of the antique architectural and interior designs are already on their way of becoming history themselves; freezing, because even the ordinary has become extra ordinaire, with heroism broadening its scope, meaning, to be a hero is not just dying for the flag, but also living (and working responsibly) for one's love.

The themes for this year's EPIX06 (Epson Photo Imaging Exposition) competition are
emphatically intertwined through the line drawn between the past and the present.
"Vanishing Scenes" reflects the preciousness of the disappearing old while "The Filipino Achievers" mirrors our generation's pride for the regular Juan Dela Cruz at work. The 200 photos selected here from both the Professional and Enthusiast divisions, most especially the 12 prize winning submissions, are images breathing the impact of such themes, like melodies providing soul to some moving lyrics of a song, or character to emotion-driven lines of a story. These are photographs capturing not just pictures, but the very essence of photography, which to the great Ansel Adams is a powerful medium of _expression and communications that offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation, and execution.

In her book "The Power of Photography, " author Vicki Goldberg said, "No photograph ever changed anything all by itself, for photographs are highly dependent creatures and their influence is entirely contingent on words, circumstances, distribution and belief systems. A photograph has power only if the right people see it in the right context at the right time." Indeed, the following photos sincerely caressed the illuminating themes in all their subtleness, vibrancy, and eloquence.

Yes, the sheer power of documentation lies at their very substance taking form, with
emphasis on the `unposed' (a farmer and his carabao readying for work) and good subject choice (a vintage electric fan in a classic-styled house). Just the thought of how these shots and subjects were taken and chosen should pass for a tender topic over a cup of coffee. And isn't that `decisive moment' originator Henri Cartier-Bresson applied a style wherein he would wrap a large hanky around his camera and pretend to be blowing his nose while clicking his shutter? And that the great architectural lensman Frederick Evans shone brightest through his posterity shots of exteriors and interiors of England's medieval cathedrals?

Apart from the artistic grandeur of the entries pulled off by the featured `drawing in light' talents, emerging in here is the Filipino lensman's ingenuity – passionately peering and pouring. Every Pinoy photographer must be wishing to be the next Joe Rosenthal, Alberto Korda, or Dorothea Lange. But no, he or she needs not dream of that. A Filipino artist has his own place in the world. His visual recognition of his country's history, environment, and community is proof of his mark.

To put it on cue, photographs like the ones you'll about to marvel at cannot truly bring back the past nor sustain the present, but they freeze moments and images to keep warm the hearts and forever embrace the future.

On October 29, Sunday at 3pm. Epson Philippines Corporation will honor the 200 Best
Photographers with their best images. The top twelve will be revealed and be placed on pedestal of history. Come join us in honoring our great artists!

Emerging digital library in the Philippines

Last month was a very hectic, mind boggling and design eccentric-focus deliberation of a project that soon will be making history in the Philippines. It's a portal that will addresss the insufficient dessimination of educational information to our students, scholars, researchers and filipinist on the value of our history as a nation.

Conceived a year ago, Filipiniana.net was born in concept of passion and love of the country. It's the passion that drives its founder and publisher Gus Vibal to reinvent the model concept of publishing in the Philippines. The need of instant information at the comfort of individual's PC drives him to share his knowledge and vast collection of rare, unpublished and out-of-print books and images to the Filipino people. With this initiative, he will be pionering online publishing amongts his contemporaries in the publishing scene.

So, working with him is really the most challenging part of my corporate career. I have been in a creative field in half a decade and with only 3 years in IT experience, here I am challenging myself to put my little knowledge in practical application. Need help? Yes, I need help because of the high expectations from my highly techie boss. He was so updated that even social networking sites such as Friendster and MySpace is his favorite hang-ups:) He understand well the concept of Web 2.0 and he wants it to be our model structure.

After 8 months of research for the appropriate tools for this project, design revisions and tedious coding, finally it goes online last September 27, as the rage of typhoon "Milenyo" hits Metro Manila. We are at our office and still working on it while our publisher is in New York waiting for it since last month.

The site is still on its beta version and we're still building its contents. We have lots to improve especially its navigational search to our master database.

Working on it gives way for 25 year search of our publisher's patriotic and nationalistic endeavor. It defines his love for the country as he is driven with passion to bring back to the Filipinos the almost lost history of its people. They tend to be neglected nowadays and he wants to win it back thru this site.

His collections was a labor of love and with this initial endeavor, I may consider it as a philantrophic move were most of his contemporaries never imagine to do. Yes, we need funding, but through the help of their family's publishing business and others who believe to this patriotic endeavor, I am sure, this would be a history in the making. Mabuhay Filipiniana.net, Mabuhay ang Lahing Pinoy!

Related Link: The Excited Publisher
On Web 2.0 Standard