Growing up, I've always wanted to be some form of artist. Like any average 7 year-old boy, I started drawing pictures of what caught my attention. My frequent subjects were movie scenes and pirate ships. My most memorable, four 8x13 pieces of paper stuck together to show an "accurate" reconstruction of the Titanic. My childhood masterpiece was then taped to the wall as my lead image to a collection of other drawings which included the wining shot scene of the movie "Mighty Ducks" and a few small ships to further emphasize the magnitude of the Titanic. By posting these images on the wall, I wanted to mimic an atmosphere of being in a gallery or museum.
In my native country of the Philippines, a lot of those we consider as National Heroes were artists like writers, composers and painters. And it is to no surprise that I aspired to be one. The only irony is that parents usually point their kids to the direction of a "professional" career rather than the arts.
Soon enough I noticed that although through years of practice, my images were never as "accurate" as I wanted them to be. I can't exactly recall the moment but I knew one day I somehow gave up the prospect of being a painter.
Moving to the United States has definitely opened me to more possibilities. Although I have no plans in changing my career in the medical field, I'm still drawn to be an artist. I've embraced photography as my primary form of expression. Bedroom walls became gallery walls, I couldn't be happier.
A few of my images from my recent trip to Chicago got me to think about all this and the reason is that I find my images very aesthetically pleasing and quite different from the recent form of street photography that I was developing. I somehow produced images that were very disconnected and more akin to landscapes with people. Then I realized that these images look more like paintings rather than photographs. So I looked back to understand how I subconsciously composed these images. I never had formal drawing or painting training as a child. I just knew what I wanted to re-create.
This mini-series is a very accurate visual interpretation of how I saw these neighborhoods and exactly how I felt while being there. I was simply in awe, most of my time spent in the US was either in the urban jungle of LA or the busy warm coastline of Southern California, so this place was nothing like what I was used to.
This image was taken at the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. This scene, although quite cliche still moved me in a way that I felt the connection of being in a complicated path yet still remain unfathomed because of being in the company of someone I trust.
In my native country of the Philippines, a lot of those we consider as National Heroes were artists like writers, composers and painters. And it is to no surprise that I aspired to be one. The only irony is that parents usually point their kids to the direction of a "professional" career rather than the arts.
Soon enough I noticed that although through years of practice, my images were never as "accurate" as I wanted them to be. I can't exactly recall the moment but I knew one day I somehow gave up the prospect of being a painter.
Moving to the United States has definitely opened me to more possibilities. Although I have no plans in changing my career in the medical field, I'm still drawn to be an artist. I've embraced photography as my primary form of expression. Bedroom walls became gallery walls, I couldn't be happier.
A few of my images from my recent trip to Chicago got me to think about all this and the reason is that I find my images very aesthetically pleasing and quite different from the recent form of street photography that I was developing. I somehow produced images that were very disconnected and more akin to landscapes with people. Then I realized that these images look more like paintings rather than photographs. So I looked back to understand how I subconsciously composed these images. I never had formal drawing or painting training as a child. I just knew what I wanted to re-create.
This mini-series is a very accurate visual interpretation of how I saw these neighborhoods and exactly how I felt while being there. I was simply in awe, most of my time spent in the US was either in the urban jungle of LA or the busy warm coastline of Southern California, so this place was nothing like what I was used to.
This image was taken at the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. This scene, although quite cliche still moved me in a way that I felt the connection of being in a complicated path yet still remain unfathomed because of being in the company of someone I trust.
(Click on the images for an awesome view)
I expected people in Chicago to have been dressed exactly like this person in the next image. Everything else was in highlight to show that he is the solid anchor of this image.
The windy city, as Chicago is known, truly is windy. This image shows two people going against the cold and windy weather by hanging out at the beach. The structures provide a perspective in which it shows how miniature people are compared to them.
So the big picture is that I was in awe of how amazing Chicago, Evanston, the northern neighborhoods, Lake Michigan and Illinois was in general. My images simply testified that.
There's always a reason why we do what we do, in my case why I took the type of images that I did. So if you're a photographer, dig deep into why you take the kind of images that you do. If not then simply look back to how you became interested in doing what you love to do.
There's always a reason why we do what we do, in my case why I took the type of images that I did. So if you're a photographer, dig deep into why you take the kind of images that you do. If not then simply look back to how you became interested in doing what you love to do.