Journeyers: Five Men with Cameras Walk into the World
/With lockdowns, quarantines, curfews, and a very limited social life, what were we supposed to do? The pandemic brought out the best and the worst of humankind. It was also a cathartic moment as people found innovative ways to cope and connect, and to pursue their passions in creative outlets. It was as if, if the world ended today, what would they be remembered for?
Five men in Manila – Tony Alunan, Benjamin Cabrera, Enchong Formoso, Adel Samson, and Tito Yuchengco (my brother) decided to put together their love of photography in a beautifully designed coffee table book under the curation of Wig Tysmans, an icon in Philippine photography for over 40 years. The book was designed by Kat Garcia and written by Gian Lao. Journeyers, with emphasis on the “eye,” is a collaborative effort of these five men – including two eye doctors and two who were their patients -- to bring photographs and the stories behind them into a “journey” during the lockdown, without leaving one’s place. “It emphasizes that photography is a matter of perspective – it is a matter of one’s eye.”
The Group: Seated: Tony Alunan. Standing (left to right): Tito Yuchengco, Benj Cabrera, Wigs Tysmans, Adel Samson and Enchong Formoso.
Here are excerpts from the book explaining each photographer’s background, style, and perspective, but more importantly, the beautiful photographs that take our breath away.
Tony Alunan is an architect by profession who has designed buildings in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Manila. In 1999 after completing the Enterprise Center in Makati, he decided to leave architecture for good. At the age of 79, he began going on backpacking trips with friends from the Camera Club Digital to Kathmandu, Australia, Bangkok, Japan, Taipei, Greece, Italy, Rome, Denmark, Iceland, Turkey, Milan, Romania, Budapest, Vienna, and many more places. Alunan’s approach to photography remains “humble, disciplined and pure. The Japanese often use the word ‘kodawari’ to indicate an obsession with excellence in craft … He has taken, for instance, a six-hour trip to take a few photos, before taking another six-hour trip back. In more expensive destinations, he shops in 7-11s for cost efficiency, prepares sandwiches for the following day’s trip, and sleeps, focused on the photographs he might take the next morning.” His aesthetic bias is landscape. He says he likes traveling during the winter because he finds the scenery beautiful – “the capped mountains, the light reflected on the snow.”
Alunan: We were late for this photo, but we were treated to the horizontal sunset in Tuscany. The sun was behind the mountains, which is why you will see a red glow on top. Of course, there are the silhouettes on the foreground. My friends and I go to places where no tourists go. It makes for a peaceful time.
Benjamin Cabrera is an eye doctor and a teacher. He is the “kind of photographer who takes instructions from the light (and its whispers) – as well as the world around him. He accommodates the light, or the lack of it.” He is a “photographer of the moment” – he goes where the wind takes him; he won’t spend hours standing by and prefers to go where the day takes him be it side streets and detours, or tourist spots. As a teacher he will tell you how the camera is like an eye. “The eye is a resilient machine, with various ways of seeing. It adjusts quickly to darkness and light, and focuses automatically on objects of interest. This, one might argue, is the merging style of Benjamin Cabrera. It is not simply an aesthetic, but also a way of mimicking the flexibility, clarity, and miracle of the human eye. It bends to the will of its subject. It accommodates the whims of the natural world. On these relatively short vacations from his work, it almost seems like Cabrera has kept working. In these photographs, he is doing what he has done for thousands of patients over his career, giving the gift of seeing.”
Cabrera: When we preserve our traditions, we are sometimes gifted with the magic of seeing the old harmonize with the new. For a moment, this geisha, whom we met at the Leica store, served as a reminder of how some unlikely connections can transcend time.
Enchong Formoso is a former marketing and retail executive and former Chief Operating Officer of Duty Free Philippines Corporation. He does not believe in the traditional trichotomy of photographer, subject, and audience alone, and prefers to add something more free-flowing – the storytelling part of it. “The photographer offers a way of seeing, an angle, an instance of light; a subject offers their likeness and life; and an audience offers an infinite amount of interpretations. And it is the alchemy between the three that creates magic.” The photographer and the audience have their own perspectives. Formoso’s “natural radar for a good story has brought him to so many places, and allowed him to practice photography that is largely driven by unplanned moments and chance encounters.” When he travels, he says to himself, “Baka hindi na ako makabalik dito (I may not be able to come back here),” so he captures it with a camera. Though Formoso is the storyteller, his photos give a sense that “the stories are still being written.”
Formoso: This is the “Impression Lijiang Show” in Yunnan, China — an open air ethnic song and dance show above sea level with the awesome backdrop of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (considered sacred mountain among local Naxi ethnic people). A creation of Chinese Director Zhang Yimou, listed in the Guinness World Records as the biggest stage. I had a decision to make back then — either I spend my time watching the performance or I take photos of it. I think I chose well.
Adel Samson is the other eye doctor. At an early age he was afflicted with rheumatic fever and had to stop school. Being in the hospital numerous times inspired him to take up medicine, and his disappointment in art classes led him to master photography. His photos educate us about marine life and the cities he has visited. He talks about what the eye perceives differently compared with a camera. Samson says, “I’m very passionate about the things I get into. If I enjoy it, buhos lahat ‘yan (I pour everything in). I want to be the best I can be in these particular things. In ophthalmology, I perfected the craft of cataract surgeries. In disciplines like archery and shooting, I kept going until I reached a certain degree of excellence. It’s the same with photography.” Last year he was awarded Photographer of the Year by the Camera Club of the Philippines. In his acceptance speech, he said, “A photograph is complete only when the brain, the heart, and the gut are in congruence with one another.”
Samson: The Badjaos are a nomadic people who live by the sea wherever they go. They don’t know their birthdays; they only know how many Christmases have passed. They’re not even on our Census. I wanted to study how they’ve adapted to life in the sea. Their pupils actually constrict when they’re underwater, whereas our pupils dilute because it’s dark. They can stay in the water for about four minutes; and they have an uncanny knack for catching fish. What a remarkable people.
““The eye is a resilient machine, with various ways of seeing. It adjusts quickly to darkness and light, and focuses automatically on objects of interest.” ”
Tito Yuchengco would take black and white photos in high school and process the photos himself. During one of his business trips to Tokyo, he took a photo of a subway train conductor that garnered a “Leica Master Shot,” meaning “it now ranks among the very best photographs in (Leica) LFI Gallery.” He says that his business experience may have influenced his style and his appreciation for old photos. “He looks for the ‘new and noteworthy;’ for ‘colors, lines, designs, shadows, and all.’ He is trying to think in black and white … Perhaps it’s because black and white is an automatic abstraction of the world we live in. Perhaps it’s the drama in the way the photos come out.” At the age of 60, the businessman semi-retired and could now travel with his wife and family more often, always bringing his camera along. The presence of Yuchengco’s family in his photo collection conveys “a temperament attained through loving and being loved” and displays his empathy towards his subjects. His wife, Marit, he claims is a very good critic.
Yuchengco: The Gentoo Penguins in the Antarctic. Though the photos suggest a deep penguin romance, this breed of penguins only mate “in areas free of snow and ice.” But they are very affectionate creatures nonetheless. We were required to stay at least five meters away from them, but these penguins repeatedly violated the rules!
In the Foreword, Wig Tysmans describes his personal journey in this project: “…this book wasn’t written with efficiency in mind – we took the scenic route. Though I knew of these five photographers prior to this project, we became much better friends in the past 12 months. We opened the doors to our personal lives, and even comforted each other as some of us tested positive for Covid. The book production team came in expecting a cut and dry portfolio project, but what ended up being printed is more a reflection not just of our lensmen’s adventures, but also of the relationships we developed while in quarantine. For this reason, this book has come to mean a lot to all of us. It contains something valuable from each and every one of us. And I am astounded that we have managed to turn a seemingly simple photography project into a splendid, organic, and deeply personal book that could have only been produced by friends.”
If you are interested in ordering a copy of the book and/or any of the photos, you may contact each photographer directly: Antonio Alunan at aradsinc@yahoo.com.ph, Benjamin Cabrera at eyebandido@gmail.com, Enchong Formoso at ench@enceltrade.com, Adel Samson at adelsamson@gmail.com, and Tito Yuchengco at asyuchengco@argosyinvestments.com.
