Wednesday, July 27, 2011
haven't written a ghost story in a while (work in progress, visible mode)
You are aware that I was born in New Manila, right? Yep, virtually one hundred meters away from the infamous Balete Drive.
The Prodigies I Have Come Across
Three people come to mind right away.
Matt Sia was never formally a student. But he sought me out after classes each week for an entire semester. Of the three, Matt for me was the most gifted, photographically.
When I first met him, he was a lanky teenager, kinda unsure of how to go about interacting with his peers. I notice that it is a common thing among young prodigies. But Matt had a handle. Everyone knew how good he was with photography. That somehow made interacting a little less difficult for him.
His first questions delved mostly on equipment choices; the kind that I get from people who had money to burn and needed advise about what equipment to display. But then I realized that Matt was sincerely asking about the best equipment and optics because he was already at the point where it would start to matter. I took pains to go through specific equipment test results with him, discussing areas of strengths and weaknesses, while addressing his point of view. We would spend an hour after class, over bites of chili footlong hotdogs, discussing equipment. I realize that beyond the equipment knowledge, I needed to give him a better motivation to shoot. Which I did. Aside from occasionally giving Matt access to better equipment, I also provided specific shoot opportunities to get him to hone his skills. Photography is a craft. And crafts needed to be practiced to keep the skills sharp.
I remember one such situation where I brought him with me on a fashion and headshots shoot. He actually came up with a better visualization than I did. Of course I should say I expected that, since I was building up a prodigy. Matt, I am talking about the shot in front of the semi-rusty green gate which I asked you to hold, in private, for half a year. if you still have it, please post it here.
Matt has the ability to make a livelihood from Photography. Parents would always prefer that their children should just continue running their family business. It will eventually be Matt's judgement call. My role in the equation was merely to provide the stabilizing element to calm down the emotions of prodigies. Matt calmed down enough to graduate from Xavier, and then move on to UST for college.
Timothy Ong came the year after.
Everybody also knew how gifted he was, photographically. Everybody called him TONG, attaching the T from his first name to his family name. Tong first blew me away when I had his class come up with a special concept christmas card for their plate. It was a collaborative effort with Alex Oh, who was also quite talented.
here is a sample Alex's Photo
Immediately I saw where Tong's skills lay. He had the ability to conceptualize visuals in much the same way we do it for advertising projects. Just to digress a bit... print advertising requires the marriage of the written word with strong visuals. Marriage, because the combination produces a communication material that should be much much stronger than the sum of the individual parts. I also took pains to bring him up to speed on photographic fundamentals as well as aesthetics, by offering both of them scholarships to several workshops I was doing at the Astoria Plaza. I also brought them along to a walking shoot of rustic Manila just to give them both a flavour of shooting real-world situations.
Tong is a typical teenager, but with goth streaks. A typical advertising guy will have goth streaks, but behaves like a teenager. So Tong seems like a natural. He will probably gravitate towards the noveau art scene soon.
Tong, if you still have the christmas card, please post it here.
Chris King came during my last semester. He was also the youngest, but most mature emotionally. He also was the only one among the three that did not own a decent camera. What he used in class was a beat-up Nokia N95.
As every "Paul Yan Experience" alumnus knows, the first plate is mandatory for everyone, and that is what you first ask for when you meet another alumnus. "How does your Coke plate look like?"
For the Xavier alumni, their coke plate will probably revolve around their computers, or their playthings; mostly photographed inside their rooms.
Chris's plate was photographed on top of a hill he just climbed, sky, grass, and the red can of coke. Uncluttered, open to so many interpretations, all positive and conquering. Lucky he had a Nokia N95, instead of my then uber-expensive Motorola Razor Executive series. The N95 focuses. The razor is focus-free. Now those two phrases will suddenly be a lot easier to understand.
Chris followed this up with his plate on lines, even capturing the motion trail of a moving vehicle. I asked "what camera this time?" and he answered, "the same N95..."
Chris, put up any photo of your choice.
Although I knew that he was already at that point where his skills can not go any further unless he moves on to a "real" camera, he takes his time and chooses to buy a mountain bike instead. I do not rush him. Talent takes time to mature. We have 1 hour conversations over the same foot-long chili hotdogs as Matt was now at University. We talk about life. And then out of the blue he says, "The Will of The Wind. Right?" referencing a blog post I did around that time. I look him strait in the eyes, and just nod. Silence.
Of the three, Chris is least likely to pursue a career in photography. For me, teaching Photography to Chris was to give him a steadying influence he will need to bank on, in a future world that he will find himself in.
I made sure Chris became a legend in front of his peers, by getting him to give my card to someone, in front of everyone. Chris will probably still hear the cheers and clapping everyone gave him. I also made sure Chris became a legend with the fellow non-Xavier PYE alumni when I elevated him to PYE Team status in Puerto Galera. What he does beyond that is totally up to him.
Matt Sia was never formally a student. But he sought me out after classes each week for an entire semester. Of the three, Matt for me was the most gifted, photographically.
When I first met him, he was a lanky teenager, kinda unsure of how to go about interacting with his peers. I notice that it is a common thing among young prodigies. But Matt had a handle. Everyone knew how good he was with photography. That somehow made interacting a little less difficult for him.
His first questions delved mostly on equipment choices; the kind that I get from people who had money to burn and needed advise about what equipment to display. But then I realized that Matt was sincerely asking about the best equipment and optics because he was already at the point where it would start to matter. I took pains to go through specific equipment test results with him, discussing areas of strengths and weaknesses, while addressing his point of view. We would spend an hour after class, over bites of chili footlong hotdogs, discussing equipment. I realize that beyond the equipment knowledge, I needed to give him a better motivation to shoot. Which I did. Aside from occasionally giving Matt access to better equipment, I also provided specific shoot opportunities to get him to hone his skills. Photography is a craft. And crafts needed to be practiced to keep the skills sharp.
I remember one such situation where I brought him with me on a fashion and headshots shoot. He actually came up with a better visualization than I did. Of course I should say I expected that, since I was building up a prodigy. Matt, I am talking about the shot in front of the semi-rusty green gate which I asked you to hold, in private, for half a year. if you still have it, please post it here.
Timothy Ong came the year after.
Everybody also knew how gifted he was, photographically. Everybody called him TONG, attaching the T from his first name to his family name. Tong first blew me away when I had his class come up with a special concept christmas card for their plate. It was a collaborative effort with Alex Oh, who was also quite talented.
here is a sample Alex's Photo
Immediately I saw where Tong's skills lay. He had the ability to conceptualize visuals in much the same way we do it for advertising projects. Just to digress a bit... print advertising requires the marriage of the written word with strong visuals. Marriage, because the combination produces a communication material that should be much much stronger than the sum of the individual parts. I also took pains to bring him up to speed on photographic fundamentals as well as aesthetics, by offering both of them scholarships to several workshops I was doing at the Astoria Plaza. I also brought them along to a walking shoot of rustic Manila just to give them both a flavour of shooting real-world situations.
Tong is a typical teenager, but with goth streaks. A typical advertising guy will have goth streaks, but behaves like a teenager. So Tong seems like a natural. He will probably gravitate towards the noveau art scene soon.
Chris King came during my last semester. He was also the youngest, but most mature emotionally. He also was the only one among the three that did not own a decent camera. What he used in class was a beat-up Nokia N95.
As every "Paul Yan Experience" alumnus knows, the first plate is mandatory for everyone, and that is what you first ask for when you meet another alumnus. "How does your Coke plate look like?"
For the Xavier alumni, their coke plate will probably revolve around their computers, or their playthings; mostly photographed inside their rooms.
Chris's plate was photographed on top of a hill he just climbed, sky, grass, and the red can of coke. Uncluttered, open to so many interpretations, all positive and conquering. Lucky he had a Nokia N95, instead of my then uber-expensive Motorola Razor Executive series. The N95 focuses. The razor is focus-free. Now those two phrases will suddenly be a lot easier to understand.
Chris followed this up with his plate on lines, even capturing the motion trail of a moving vehicle. I asked "what camera this time?" and he answered, "the same N95..."
Chris, put up any photo of your choice.
Of the three, Chris is least likely to pursue a career in photography. For me, teaching Photography to Chris was to give him a steadying influence he will need to bank on, in a future world that he will find himself in.
I made sure Chris became a legend in front of his peers, by getting him to give my card to someone, in front of everyone. Chris will probably still hear the cheers and clapping everyone gave him. I also made sure Chris became a legend with the fellow non-Xavier PYE alumni when I elevated him to PYE Team status in Puerto Galera. What he does beyond that is totally up to him.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The Child I Never Had
In the few conversations we have had about having a child, we felt that gender was of less importance to us, as we simply preferred a normal, healthy child.
If I had a choice, I would prefer a girl, over a boy. Young girls seem to be easier to control, at least superficially, than young boisterous boys. Emotionally, I know they will be opposite.
I would prefer my daughter to start fat. Cute fat, not obese fat. Probably until the age of 5 or 6. Early school age. She will probably have relatively long hair. At least shoulder-length, probably a touch longer than that. It will probably be curly, or at least have curls somewhere.
She will have large doe eyes. Expressive. Transparent windows to her soul. I do not know how she will have large eyes, considering I do not. She also does not. But large doe eyes will give her such a disarming look, from which no one is immune. From the direct-ascendant lolas who are all not around anymore,to the lateral lolas, and titas (aunties as we call them on our chinese side) and the adopted lolas and sisters, and best friends. Same thing with the non-existent lolos, to the lateral lolos and titos (uncles) and our other male friends. Once she flashes the doe eyes, she will get her toys, chocolates, osh koshes, little tykes and barbies.
upon reaching early school age, I will prefer that she picks up a sport. it doesn't matter which one exactly. so long as she enjoys it, and takes to it naturally. Sports has a way of steadying a person. It also provides early learning for handling failure, as well as reinforcing the corellation between success and hard work. And sports will help make her lose weight. Ok, make her lose the baby fat.
She will probably have above-average intelligence. At least I hope she does. Although genetics does not assure it, her gene pool will be just 2 or 3 points away from genius ranking.
I hope she does not become a wiseass. However, I have been made to understand that being a wiseass is a little more desirable than being a dumbshit. Eitherway, both will not sit well with me.
I hope she does not use her intellect to bully people. Or to put them down. Or to get ahead in line. She should use her intellect to help people build better lives. or at least discern about the quality of life she helps improve.
Here is the ticklish part. She will not hear anything from me about having to be first honor, all the time. I never was. She was. I will just want her to enjoy school, and the socialization it offers. She can save the studying for college, when I think it will start to matter. Hopefully, she takes post-graduate studies. I never did; She was summa cum laude status at her M.A. in Journalism. Academically, I have nothing to be proud of.
Here is another ticklish situation. How do I cope if she underachieves? Parents have that frustration. From the years that I have dealt with the children of prominent families, I have come to realize that their sons and daughters do not find their motivation from their parents anymore, but from role models they aspire to. Through me, and my role as a new force in their lives, I have helped mould children into something their parents will have assumed they should have developed into, on their own. I know that. I have seen that. I have done that, and it is well-documented. But how do I grapple with it as a parent; that my child will not see me as her source of motivation? If it happens, I hope she finds inspiration in another "teacher Paul". Hopefully, the new teacher paul will know how to rechannel it all.
I hope that she will have a heart as big as mine. she will probably not wish that. My heart has caused me both pleasure and pain. and not always in that order. I hope she takes her relationships as seriously as I did; regardless of whether it would end in pain or not. We, I, will be here, waiting to comfort her, each time it did. She will live, and love, and care, and dream, just like we did. Just like I did. Just like I do. Just like I am doing now.
But she is the child I never had.
My time has come and gone.
Jesus Paul C. Yan
for The Paul Yan Chronicles
(feedback welcome)
If I had a choice, I would prefer a girl, over a boy. Young girls seem to be easier to control, at least superficially, than young boisterous boys. Emotionally, I know they will be opposite.
I would prefer my daughter to start fat. Cute fat, not obese fat. Probably until the age of 5 or 6. Early school age. She will probably have relatively long hair. At least shoulder-length, probably a touch longer than that. It will probably be curly, or at least have curls somewhere.
She will have large doe eyes. Expressive. Transparent windows to her soul. I do not know how she will have large eyes, considering I do not. She also does not. But large doe eyes will give her such a disarming look, from which no one is immune. From the direct-ascendant lolas who are all not around anymore,to the lateral lolas, and titas (aunties as we call them on our chinese side) and the adopted lolas and sisters, and best friends. Same thing with the non-existent lolos, to the lateral lolos and titos (uncles) and our other male friends. Once she flashes the doe eyes, she will get her toys, chocolates, osh koshes, little tykes and barbies.
upon reaching early school age, I will prefer that she picks up a sport. it doesn't matter which one exactly. so long as she enjoys it, and takes to it naturally. Sports has a way of steadying a person. It also provides early learning for handling failure, as well as reinforcing the corellation between success and hard work. And sports will help make her lose weight. Ok, make her lose the baby fat.
She will probably have above-average intelligence. At least I hope she does. Although genetics does not assure it, her gene pool will be just 2 or 3 points away from genius ranking.
I hope she does not become a wiseass. However, I have been made to understand that being a wiseass is a little more desirable than being a dumbshit. Eitherway, both will not sit well with me.
I hope she does not use her intellect to bully people. Or to put them down. Or to get ahead in line. She should use her intellect to help people build better lives. or at least discern about the quality of life she helps improve.
Here is the ticklish part. She will not hear anything from me about having to be first honor, all the time. I never was. She was. I will just want her to enjoy school, and the socialization it offers. She can save the studying for college, when I think it will start to matter. Hopefully, she takes post-graduate studies. I never did; She was summa cum laude status at her M.A. in Journalism. Academically, I have nothing to be proud of.
Here is another ticklish situation. How do I cope if she underachieves? Parents have that frustration. From the years that I have dealt with the children of prominent families, I have come to realize that their sons and daughters do not find their motivation from their parents anymore, but from role models they aspire to. Through me, and my role as a new force in their lives, I have helped mould children into something their parents will have assumed they should have developed into, on their own. I know that. I have seen that. I have done that, and it is well-documented. But how do I grapple with it as a parent; that my child will not see me as her source of motivation? If it happens, I hope she finds inspiration in another "teacher Paul". Hopefully, the new teacher paul will know how to rechannel it all.
I hope that she will have a heart as big as mine. she will probably not wish that. My heart has caused me both pleasure and pain. and not always in that order. I hope she takes her relationships as seriously as I did; regardless of whether it would end in pain or not. We, I, will be here, waiting to comfort her, each time it did. She will live, and love, and care, and dream, just like we did. Just like I did. Just like I do. Just like I am doing now.
But she is the child I never had.
My time has come and gone.
Jesus Paul C. Yan
for The Paul Yan Chronicles
(feedback welcome)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
intermission number 5
As a professional photographer, I actually have had very few professional projects which specifically needed a Manila Bay sunset. The thing with it is that there is an island that lies smack in the middle of where the sun is supposed to set, at least for most parts of the year.
So, what do you do next? You partner with Prestige Cruises and arrange to have a yacht move you around the bay so you will eventually get a good vantage of the sunset! And while everyone is mesmerized by the sunset, I look out for special one-of-a-kind shots that no one else sees. Here is one such shot; photographed probably early 2010.
As usual, the photograph is displayed as photographed. No photoshop, no tweaks. Shown the way I saw the scene unfold.
If you like it, please post a comment. I am a sucker for feedback.
enjoy.
Jesus Paul C. Yan
for The Paul Yan Chronicles
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