6 months ago, right around the time of my birthday, I actually got a very interesting message from Eric:
“You should write something about yourself so that our readers can know the real you.”
For those of you who don’t know, I’m A.g.. I’m his content manager here at the blog and I’m also in charge of Streettogs Academy working out of Manila, Philippines. Aside from my task as admin of Streettogs Academy, I usually get assignments from him to interview photographers, fix a blog post or two, and do a feature or other things. He hasn’t really made a formal introduction of me for the past 2 years that I do things with him here on the blog but better late than never I guess!
I was stumped for weeks as to how I am going to make this write-up. I don’t want to sound like a pretentious arrogant and I don’t want to give a biography. So instead, I will answer with why I love photography. I believe that what you love shows you what you stand for and why you do the things you do. Without further ado, here’s my love letter to photography:
Dear Photography,
I love you.
I love you photography for giving me the easiest opportunity to meet people. In an age where humans are constantly connected but emotionally distant, the camera has been my tool of bridging the gap. The casual encounters with people on the streets oftentimes turn into a portrait or an experience that brightens our day. The act of photographing is a recognition of another person existing. Photography has also been a platform for meeting people who I will find deep inspiration in, from the many mentors who willingly shared their knowledge, to the people whose life I look up to, the curators and critics I have met that helped me make sense of what photography is, to Eric himself and his life full of purpose and dedication, and to my love whom I met while working with her in a studio as she elevates the face of the model sitting on her make-up chair.
I love you photography for showing me the beauty of the different places of the world. You have showed me a way to enjoy the beauty of the best places by teaching me to see it with an understanding of light: The details of the pavement, The grains of sand, The way light hits the trees, and many others. From the pristine beaches of Palawan to the surfer’s heaven that is Baler, To the temples of Angkor Wat in a dusty December to windy Michigan Ave in the middle of summer, to the efficient and urban streets of Seoul to the fast pace moody vibe of Toronto, I thank you photography for giving me the opportunity to see these places and giving me a way to appreciate them.
I love you photography for making me in constant awe of the talent that I come across. Thank you for introducing me to amazing street photographers who strap on their shoes, ready their cameras, and explore the city around them day in and day out. Thank you for introducing me to the great photojournalistic works that go above and beyond keep me informed and aware of the socio-political problems that our world is facing. Thank you for showing me contemporary art. Photography in the hands of the artist photographer becomes a whole different thing. Photography, your democratic nature has enabled individuals to wield you in whatever they see fit. The works of these individuals made me feel a gamut of emotions and helps me place myself and identify my humanity.
I love you photography for preserving my memories. You are the ultimate souvenir. I have come to you in my toughest moments and was there preserve the happiest ones. You were a way for me to remember things I lost and there for me when I need to make sense of something happening in my life. Every image is a diary entry worth a thousand words. I will forget. I will change. My face will shows signs of age and my personality will evolve but who I am in pictures will be frozen. It’s the pictures that help remind my mother of what I was like when I was a kid. Pictures remind me how I adjust and change as I grow older. Pictures are proof that I am here and I exist.
I love you photography for giving me purpose. I found out about you when I was a teen struggling to find where I will be good at. The ease of which you bring and instant smile to some of my formative years 1/250th second at a time was valuable for me. Friends and family were happy that I found something I want to do and it lead to me having photography as my own way of living. More often than not, times are tough. The clients don’t pay upfront, work is hard to come by, or when self doubts sets in or any other struggles of being a freelancer makes it difficult but the joy of doing the work you love counters everything. It makes me want to do what’s best for my clients, my family and friends, and of course myself.
As much as I love you photography, you have also given me a lot of lessons. Most notable is one of recent memory. I was living my life as if I was constantly shooting at fast shutter speeds, burst mode, and high ISOs. It gave me severe chest pains, my mind not functioning well, and every muscle in my body moves in pain. I was fatigued, exhausted, and forgot every reason why I do photography in the first place. I was burned out.
It was in my time of recovery that made me think and look back on the almost ten years of having photography in my life and what is the most important. At this time, I was able to understand what I was lacking: Photography, you are my love but you are not my life and you should never be.
From now on, I will see to it to live my life and making photography a part of it. Photography has always been a great witness to things that humanity has done and I have used photography to document some of the most memorable moments of my life. From the most exciting such as documenting my experiences seeing a whole new city to, the most banal as having a simple conversation with a bus driver, to the most lovely when my girlfriend gave me her smile. It’s the little things that make photography beautiful.
It is in this time that I have come to understand that photography can be the company for everything once you dedicate yourself to something and you decide to photograph it. Then you go at it, refine your style and technique. Not stopping. Doing the work. Restarting the entire process. Going at it again. And Again. And again. Until you figure out you are finished or find something new to dedicate yourself to. That is when photography becomes a beautiful experience that yields art. Life, love, and photography becomes one perfect mix and doing the work behind it becomes bliss.
That and all of this is why I love you photography. I hope I would be able to spread the love and experience you have given me to others who are lost and needs to see the light, or those who have been burned out for them to come back, or for the ones who like me, who are constantly thankful for everything. And so here I am. As always, I will be in constant awe of places I will be, the faces I will have the privilege of meeting, and the bookcases I want to fill with the work of the photographers I admire.
Thank you photography, until the next picture.
I love you,
- A.g.