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| Tyrone on coco husks, taken in a koprahan in Cagbalete |
One persistent reaction I get from friends and acquaintances is "I envy your job." Job means being occasionally sent somewhere either to shoot and/or write about places, the food, and the culture. It's true I'm lucky to go places on the expense account of someone else and I consider it a privilege. However, that's only part of the story.
It's still work where quality output is expected no matter if the weather or circumstances didn't cooperate or went contrary to plans. It's waking up before the crack of dawn everyday to catch an elusive sunrise, ride a banca before the sea becomes rough, go island hop in the darkness before it gets too light. One other downside is that no matter how excited I get about shooting or writing about the place or experience is that I will have to wait until the magazine comes out before I can blog, tweet or fb about it. But sometimes you get lucky. Like finding a window of an hour to kayak the shallows of Cagbalete during my previous assignment.
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| Kid in a pensive mood in Alibihaban |
Still, I am privileged to go places and meet people I wouldn't otherwise encounter. It's also an incredible experience to peek into the lives of people in these places, of finding perspective in knowing there's a world out there outside of what I know. Like finding Tyrone, the child of a copra worker while waiting for the tide to ebb in Cagbalete, Quezon. My recent assignment took me to the far reaches of the province which I have explored little in the past owing to my predilection for riding airplanes instead of taking long roadtrips south of Luzon. It's something I intend to make amends for.
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| Excited to go to school |
Kids in particular are interesting to note and capture during my travels. They are transparent as transparent can be, showing their true feelings or emotions at the moment. It's also comforting to know that kids are kids wherever they maybe -- eager for their mother's touch and friendly to strangers who'd want a snap of a moment of happiness or in the case in the second photo above, of pensiveness perhaps due to lack of sleep. Coming on a weekday was also a good opportunity to watch the locals live out their day sans the casualness of the weekend. Looking forward to sharing my Quezon post soon.
