Aninuan Sunset Beach Resort
It is easy to end up being Jaded about Puerto Galera; especially after what Ron and I went through during our formal ocular inspection yesterday. It really was an adventure based on a series of unfortunate events which we never had any control over. But in our quest to find exotic destinations within popular locations for our workshops, we occasionally end up “in a pickle” most especially during the first visit. Yesterday was one such occasion. But that is neither here nor there.
Aninuan sits on a more secluded section of the shoreline 270 degrees and about 700 meters away from white beach. Officially, the beach where Aninuan is located is called tamaraw beach.
The secret to Aninuan’s seclusion is actually a 200-meter section of boulders separating white beach from tamaraw beach, which to a Manilenyo like myself, is virtually an unpassable fortress. To locals, it is a mere 5 minute bunny hop. It took the better part of 20 minutes for me to negotiate the rocky outcrop, even having to figuratively crawl over certain sections just so I don’t run the risk of slipping; which to weak-kneed people is a very realistic possibility.
Aninuan is run hands-on by Lexi, a very pleasant and intelligent woman with a very good feel for marketing. She had really intended her resort to stand out without being loud about it, which is how Europeans and I like it. Think The Tides Hotel in Boracay, or Badian Island off Cebu.
Aninuan has just completed its new wing, which includes rooms having both sunrise and sunset views; a baby infinity pool; and a wet bar area. The wet bar alone is reason enough for us to hold the workshop there! Hahaha. The rooms are fairly large and equipped much like Tides and Badian; meaning it has a 32inch LCD tv, a split type aircon, a hammock on the porch facing the sea, and European standard bathroom fixtures with glass enclosures. Each room also has its own 48x48 inch artwork. And by special arrangement with Lexi, some of those rooms will be made available to us. Buena Mano daw ang pinoy. Iba talaga ang Paul Yan Experience workshops. Word has gotten around.
In terms of shooting possibilities, the Galera Project will have two. The first venue being the small infinity pool with the sisters in swimsuits, and the second most probably a scenic shoot over at tamaraw falls. There is a third possibility. Lexi faintly mentioned that there was a small waterfall somewhere, and reachable by a 45-minute hike from the resort. Judging by the fact that she said locals only take 5 minutes to negotiate the rocky outcrop that took me close to twenty minutes, her 45-minute estimate might be closer to the distance between hyperventilation and a heart attack for people like me. I guess I’ll just wait for you at the wet bar, with a mojito and a cohiba. Lexi, pass me another pizza margherita please...
Remember, it is May 06-08.
Jesus Paul C. Yan
For The Paul Yan Chronicles
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Eugenio Jose
The process of simplification
The digital camera, the digital negative, and the digital print.
If you take away the repetitive word 'digital', you would be left with the title of what is undoubtedly the most popular handbook for serious photographers over the past 4 decades. This handbook is actually a compendium of 3 books of inter-related topics, but treated as 3 separate processes with the core idea that photography requires emphasis on all three, not just the camera. Taking away the word digital from the equation leaves you with an artist named Ansel Adams.
Ever since first becoming serious about photography in the early 70's, Eugenio Jose has understood that it was a craft, and that like all other crafts, it needed to be worked on, studied further, and then constantly practiced. He has, to his credit, perfected his own shooting, developing, and printing workflow by learning from those who developed the process, or from those who have studied and mastered it.
With the advent of digital technology, it was my own personal fear that traditional specialists & masters like Mr. Jose would be overwhelmed by it and just stick to the confines of their analog world, while we, the young upstarts, would embrace the digital camera like it was our twin brother. Instead, he has done us one better. Although it took him a while, he has now embraced the full spectrum of digital photographic technology; the digital camera & optics, digital post production & manipulation, and the digital print. His initial intention was merely exploratory; to see what it can do, versus what he used to do. But over the course of several years, he has come to the conclusion that technology can now overcome the previous limitations of analog. Images whose details were impossible to reproduce on print three decades ago can now be printed successfully using processes and technologies invented in this decade.
His monochrome images have always been known for having full tonal values and intensely rich detail. He remains true to form. Actually, his monochromes seem to have even more tonal values now, and the details are even richer. It is in his monochromes that you see his technical proficiency.
It is in his colored images where he allows himself more artistic interpretation.
The works he exhibits now escape any single definition or genre. In fact, it does not even capture a single time frame from his broad creative realm. What he exhibits now are smatterings of images that are personal favorites; preferring instead to share the personal on a scale he has not done before.
He is not an advocate of large prints, believing that “a good photograph, no matter how small, will still look good; while a bad photograph, when printed at huge magnifications, will only intensify its' mediocrity.” Quality does not improve with size.
If we go back to the title and take away 'digital', you will have Ansel Adams and the basics of the zone system. Put 'digital' back into the equation, and you now have Mr. Eugenio Jose, in his 21st century incarnation. Uncluttered, Interpretative, and In Full Living Color.
To master the craft, you also have to master the process. Which is exactly what Mr. Jose did, again.
Jesus Paul C. Yan
for The Paul Yan Chronicles
A selection of Mr. Jose's works are currently on public exhibit at the gallery of the Camera Club of the Philippines, Waltermart Makati.
The digital camera, the digital negative, and the digital print.
If you take away the repetitive word 'digital', you would be left with the title of what is undoubtedly the most popular handbook for serious photographers over the past 4 decades. This handbook is actually a compendium of 3 books of inter-related topics, but treated as 3 separate processes with the core idea that photography requires emphasis on all three, not just the camera. Taking away the word digital from the equation leaves you with an artist named Ansel Adams.
Ever since first becoming serious about photography in the early 70's, Eugenio Jose has understood that it was a craft, and that like all other crafts, it needed to be worked on, studied further, and then constantly practiced. He has, to his credit, perfected his own shooting, developing, and printing workflow by learning from those who developed the process, or from those who have studied and mastered it.
With the advent of digital technology, it was my own personal fear that traditional specialists & masters like Mr. Jose would be overwhelmed by it and just stick to the confines of their analog world, while we, the young upstarts, would embrace the digital camera like it was our twin brother. Instead, he has done us one better. Although it took him a while, he has now embraced the full spectrum of digital photographic technology; the digital camera & optics, digital post production & manipulation, and the digital print. His initial intention was merely exploratory; to see what it can do, versus what he used to do. But over the course of several years, he has come to the conclusion that technology can now overcome the previous limitations of analog. Images whose details were impossible to reproduce on print three decades ago can now be printed successfully using processes and technologies invented in this decade.
His monochrome images have always been known for having full tonal values and intensely rich detail. He remains true to form. Actually, his monochromes seem to have even more tonal values now, and the details are even richer. It is in his monochromes that you see his technical proficiency.
It is in his colored images where he allows himself more artistic interpretation.
The works he exhibits now escape any single definition or genre. In fact, it does not even capture a single time frame from his broad creative realm. What he exhibits now are smatterings of images that are personal favorites; preferring instead to share the personal on a scale he has not done before.
He is not an advocate of large prints, believing that “a good photograph, no matter how small, will still look good; while a bad photograph, when printed at huge magnifications, will only intensify its' mediocrity.” Quality does not improve with size.
If we go back to the title and take away 'digital', you will have Ansel Adams and the basics of the zone system. Put 'digital' back into the equation, and you now have Mr. Eugenio Jose, in his 21st century incarnation. Uncluttered, Interpretative, and In Full Living Color.
To master the craft, you also have to master the process. Which is exactly what Mr. Jose did, again.
Jesus Paul C. Yan
for The Paul Yan Chronicles
A selection of Mr. Jose's works are currently on public exhibit at the gallery of the Camera Club of the Philippines, Waltermart Makati.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
MiniCooper
MiniCooper
Saturdays have been my social interaction day for about 2 years running. I have met a lot of people, of all shades, sizes, and eccentricities. About seven months ago MiniCooper walked in. He was a calm and composed young man; thin by my standards (I was massively thin that time, minus at least 20 pounds from my usual). He introduced himself as a single father of four, and a builder by education. He was calm and at peace, at least at that point. By the following week, things had changed massively, as he became a bundle of nerves, unsure of what would come next. Seven days after our introduction, his four children were forcibly taken, by the other single parent, with the aid of firearms, with the intention of spiriting them out of the country. This is his story.
His romance started in school, just like most of us. Not needing to go into detail, he tells me that his girlfriend became pregnant just as he was about to graduate, and then they decided to marry. I interpret this decision to marry as coming after the fact, which is what most guys his age would do. I do not know if this interpretation would hold true for girls, who I also understand may intend to get pregnant so that marriage becomes an inevitable option; an option that will be reached regardless of discussion with the boyfriend, with the in-laws, with the parents. Getting pregnant is the first step to a way out of whatever situation they could not resolve. Regardless, they both intend to get married before the baby comes into this world.
MiniCooper knows his family will support his decision. He is unaware though that it will break his father’s heart. They fly to the girl’s family to settle in while he reviews for his board exam. In a week, his father is dead; broken by the suddenness of it all. Everyone attempts to move on.
He takes a teaching job. The baby arrives. He passes the board. The wife decides to take further education, intending to work outside the country. Baby number two comes. They move on.
In another two years, he had established himself in his chosen field, which was outside of what he was educated for. He had chosen to specialize in 3D rendering, instead of building, and had started to make a name for himself outside the country. Around that time, he moves back to Manila to take care of business, then flies to his family at least once every thirty days. He had found his road, and he was content. The wife had finished her further education and also wanted to find her road. For her, her road lay twelve time zones away. Or at least one time zone further from where she was at that point. Of course having a husband who had found his road in a place you didn’t think yours would be would be a source of conflict. But there was hardly any conflict, as she probably knew that outright resistance was futile. Baby number three comes.
He decides to bring his family to Manila. She learns all that she can about how to go seek her place in the sun. She applies for whatever needed to be applied for. Baby number four comes. Six weeks after, she gets approval from the host country and leaves immediately. This is the first time she is enthusiastic about anything. MiniCooper is left in Manila with four children, the youngest, six weeks old. He isn’t burdened at all; he has virtually taken care of all the children since day one, and this was a continuance of it all. He is bothered at the insistence of his wife to leave for work, especially since they already have a growing family. I think she feels that the Philippines was not where her future lay anymore. I think she had come to that realization a long time ago, but that she was overtaken by events. I think that when she got pregnant, she was not yet ready to settle down and become a mother. Life moves on.
In a year, the children had grown by a year. MiniCooper had taken care of them virtually singlehandedly (thank the Filipino extended family as well as the affordable labor force) and life was moving at a seemingly normal pace. She had also adjusted to her new environment well. The first of several returns was eagerly awaited by everyone.
Physical separation has its own share of problems that can only be understood by people who have had reasons to be physically separated. They were like everyone else in this regard as well. They grew apart, but in a way that was not pleasant to either one. MiniCooper opted for a separation, intending to raise the children on his own, as he had done so, virtually from the day they were born.
Physical separation also has its own share of peculiarities, some of which create urges only understood by people who have had reasons to be physically separated. A woman not yet prepared to settle down and be a mother in spite of the fact of four children may suddenly start to have her motherly instincts kick in. Perhaps realizing that her actions may have imperiled her access to the children, she acts in a way that only mothers who have had to recover their children may understand. She prepares the legal documentation in the fastest way she can, and at the most discrete manner so nobody would even notice something was already being done. All that remained was for her to get the children, which she did on the dawn of the second Saturday after I was introduced to MiniCooper. For the record, the firearms were used to dissuade any possible opposition from the people taking care of the children, but were never intended to cause any harm to anyone. Before the sun rose, MiniCooper was a single parent to children on their way to a land twelve timezones away from him, and without any means of contact.
By noon, during our second meeting, I had found out some bits and pieces of what happened. All I knew was that there was urgency to the situation, with a window of just a few hours more. Although I had the capacity to help immediately, with help that was appropriate to the situation, I decided to give the benefit of the doubt to the other person.
Apparently, by her actions, she is finally prepared to become a mother. I hope time proves her right.
Two weeks ago, I read something on a shirt worn by Manilyn and I think the words are appropriate here. “In the end, everything will be ok. If it’s not ok, then it’s not yet the end.”
Jesus Paul C. Yan
For The Paul Yan Chronicles
April 6, 2011 7:49am
Saturdays have been my social interaction day for about 2 years running. I have met a lot of people, of all shades, sizes, and eccentricities. About seven months ago MiniCooper walked in. He was a calm and composed young man; thin by my standards (I was massively thin that time, minus at least 20 pounds from my usual). He introduced himself as a single father of four, and a builder by education. He was calm and at peace, at least at that point. By the following week, things had changed massively, as he became a bundle of nerves, unsure of what would come next. Seven days after our introduction, his four children were forcibly taken, by the other single parent, with the aid of firearms, with the intention of spiriting them out of the country. This is his story.
His romance started in school, just like most of us. Not needing to go into detail, he tells me that his girlfriend became pregnant just as he was about to graduate, and then they decided to marry. I interpret this decision to marry as coming after the fact, which is what most guys his age would do. I do not know if this interpretation would hold true for girls, who I also understand may intend to get pregnant so that marriage becomes an inevitable option; an option that will be reached regardless of discussion with the boyfriend, with the in-laws, with the parents. Getting pregnant is the first step to a way out of whatever situation they could not resolve. Regardless, they both intend to get married before the baby comes into this world.
MiniCooper knows his family will support his decision. He is unaware though that it will break his father’s heart. They fly to the girl’s family to settle in while he reviews for his board exam. In a week, his father is dead; broken by the suddenness of it all. Everyone attempts to move on.
He takes a teaching job. The baby arrives. He passes the board. The wife decides to take further education, intending to work outside the country. Baby number two comes. They move on.
In another two years, he had established himself in his chosen field, which was outside of what he was educated for. He had chosen to specialize in 3D rendering, instead of building, and had started to make a name for himself outside the country. Around that time, he moves back to Manila to take care of business, then flies to his family at least once every thirty days. He had found his road, and he was content. The wife had finished her further education and also wanted to find her road. For her, her road lay twelve time zones away. Or at least one time zone further from where she was at that point. Of course having a husband who had found his road in a place you didn’t think yours would be would be a source of conflict. But there was hardly any conflict, as she probably knew that outright resistance was futile. Baby number three comes.
He decides to bring his family to Manila. She learns all that she can about how to go seek her place in the sun. She applies for whatever needed to be applied for. Baby number four comes. Six weeks after, she gets approval from the host country and leaves immediately. This is the first time she is enthusiastic about anything. MiniCooper is left in Manila with four children, the youngest, six weeks old. He isn’t burdened at all; he has virtually taken care of all the children since day one, and this was a continuance of it all. He is bothered at the insistence of his wife to leave for work, especially since they already have a growing family. I think she feels that the Philippines was not where her future lay anymore. I think she had come to that realization a long time ago, but that she was overtaken by events. I think that when she got pregnant, she was not yet ready to settle down and become a mother. Life moves on.
In a year, the children had grown by a year. MiniCooper had taken care of them virtually singlehandedly (thank the Filipino extended family as well as the affordable labor force) and life was moving at a seemingly normal pace. She had also adjusted to her new environment well. The first of several returns was eagerly awaited by everyone.
Physical separation has its own share of problems that can only be understood by people who have had reasons to be physically separated. They were like everyone else in this regard as well. They grew apart, but in a way that was not pleasant to either one. MiniCooper opted for a separation, intending to raise the children on his own, as he had done so, virtually from the day they were born.
Physical separation also has its own share of peculiarities, some of which create urges only understood by people who have had reasons to be physically separated. A woman not yet prepared to settle down and be a mother in spite of the fact of four children may suddenly start to have her motherly instincts kick in. Perhaps realizing that her actions may have imperiled her access to the children, she acts in a way that only mothers who have had to recover their children may understand. She prepares the legal documentation in the fastest way she can, and at the most discrete manner so nobody would even notice something was already being done. All that remained was for her to get the children, which she did on the dawn of the second Saturday after I was introduced to MiniCooper. For the record, the firearms were used to dissuade any possible opposition from the people taking care of the children, but were never intended to cause any harm to anyone. Before the sun rose, MiniCooper was a single parent to children on their way to a land twelve timezones away from him, and without any means of contact.
By noon, during our second meeting, I had found out some bits and pieces of what happened. All I knew was that there was urgency to the situation, with a window of just a few hours more. Although I had the capacity to help immediately, with help that was appropriate to the situation, I decided to give the benefit of the doubt to the other person.
Apparently, by her actions, she is finally prepared to become a mother. I hope time proves her right.
Two weeks ago, I read something on a shirt worn by Manilyn and I think the words are appropriate here. “In the end, everything will be ok. If it’s not ok, then it’s not yet the end.”
Jesus Paul C. Yan
For The Paul Yan Chronicles
April 6, 2011 7:49am
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
