Black & White, learning a craft & Smart Gilas

As far back as I could remember, I loved illustration. And I drew a lot as a kid. I drew Marvel Superheroes and military stuff. When my late grandfather would let me read his Time and Life magazines, I was drawn towards photography. Of course, I couldn't afford to get a camera at that age. I've also previously mentioned that I wanted to join the Camera Club in Ateneo except that I didn't own a camera. So I joined Hobbycraft (making model airplanes and stuff) and played football. But I've always loved photography and the earliest photog/journalist I liked was the late Robert Capa (real name Endre Erno Friedmann, a Hungarian photo journalist). Many called him reckless for his shots such as the above shot from Omaha Beach during D-Day when he waded ashore with American troops during the invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe. He survived that and more but died in Vietnam when he stepped on a landmine.

I thought that there was raw power in his photos and this one of a soldier killed during the Spanish Civil War that sort of ushered in World War II. Capa's style resonated further with me when Nikon put out this ad, a controversial one I must say by new York ad agency Scali McCabe Sloves (copy by Richard Kelly with art by Ron Rosen). The ad used no pictures and the copy read:

A three year-old boy saluting at his father's funeral.

A woman crying over the body of a student shot by the National Guard.

An American President lifting his pet beagle up by its ears.

A lone student standing in front of four tanks.

If you can picture it in your head, it was probably taken with a Nikon.

The ad is bold as it assumed that its American audience was smart and literate enough to recognize and picture these photos in their minds. The first is JFK Jr. during his father's funeral. The second is the Kent State incident. The third is US President Lydon B. Johnson (the original LBJ), and the last is Tiannamen Square. It's a trivia ad that is at once powerful for the emotions it conjures. In case you don't know, I spent several years in advertising (in Creatives writing copy and doing occasional art direction).

And that leads me to this. I've always wanted to shoot like my fellow sports shooters at Fabilioh except that I do not have their gear or experience. It's seems fashionable to like photogs like Anton Corbijn (who became famous for his photos of Irish supergroup U2) and Annie Liebovitz. Last year, I decided I went back to doing what I wanted and in the style I wanted. Andrew MacPherson is a celebrity photog but he took the photos to Oasis' Standing on the Shoulder of Giants album. And he also took the shot of Heathen Chemistry (pictured above). That was huge and since I decided to go that way and shoot them differently. Of course, I am nowhere near good like these guys but hopefully, I'll get there. And here are some shots from last night's scrimmage between Smart Gilas Pilipinas and Talk 'N Text.

Mark Barroca remains fearless as ever. He can still beat his man off the dribble, ditch him with a crossover and finish. It's up to the opposing team's center to adjust and try and stop him.

Jimmy Alapag, is this guy fast or is he fast? He is like Barroca, Jay Jay Helterbrand, and LA Tenorio -- absolutely fearless.

Post-game. Smart Gilas got whupped 88-70 by Talk N Text. Rey Guevarra is just just getting back in the thick of things, Dylan Ababou has found his speed and shooting touch, Japeth Aguilar can still jump out of a gym but has yet to be a dominant rebounding force, and Chris Tiu, maybe the team's best all-around player, suffered a bad shooting game. Ditto for Milan Vucicevic who is having a hard time with the heat. He just planed in from the cold weather of Serbia and ran smack in a very humid atmosphere. As for the team -- I'm worried about burnout. Too much basketball for these guys in such a difficult schedule. I hope the team's braintrust knows what they are doing. Anyways, I have more Smart Gilas photos in my Facebook account.