we're not kids anymore.
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
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@antoniovillalon
A man approached the crêpe stand, taking to an imaginary person. A #crêpe was seconds away from burning. The man shouted and argued, wouldn't leave the lady alone. "Which one do you want," she said loudly. "That one." She handed him a doughnut and shooed him away. She turned to her coworker and said, "Qu'il me laisse tranquille!" She handed me my crêpes. #paris #vscocam (at Trocadéro)
"This used to be my favourite bridge, and now it's covered in locks," he said. Two police men rode up to a man selling locks. "They're trying to make it illegal," he told me. " the bridge is braking from the weight." In the distance two men quickly packed up shop and ran before the police could find them. #paris #lovelocks #vscocam (at Pont Des Arts - Paris)
Passed the #boulangerie was a small church. A man sat outside behind a small table, the sound of Beethoven creeping through from inside. He let us in for free, we watched a pianist play for the smallest of audiences, in the smallest and oldest church in Paris. It was a lucky day to be waking about. #vscocam #paris (at San Michel)
Yolanda, Part Zero: The Update.
It's about time I fill you in on a little secret. I suck at maintaining an online presence.
The Journey Begins.
Before I begin, I just wanted to acknowledge how blessed I am to be able to even be thinking about embarking on a project like this. I could not have asked for a more supportive group of people than those at Emily Carr. Sandra Semchuck and William Cupit, thank you for all your support.
Sandra really helped me to hone in on where my practice is today, and without her I really wouldn't have realized how important it is (for me personally and otherwise) that I take the time this winter break to really reach out to the community and use photography to lift it up.
William as well has given me more support than I could have imagined, with what he says is the photo departments "limited budget". I promise all this film and paper in January will not go to waste.
Faber, who was kind enough to lend me these filters and long (as in really long) shutter release cable. I'll promise you two things Faber, firstly that I'll keep them safe, and that when I come back and begin printing that I'll use an easel... to the best of my abilities, haha!
There's more people to thank, of course, but I don't want to run the risk of this entry being a TLDR kind of entry, so we'll save them for another day. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten any of you, it's just that I have to finish packing... a tough enough task, but I also am still kind of sick and coughing like a mad man.
If you want to keep up with my project, do check in periodically. I'll try to post as often as I can, be it once a day, once a week... or maybe only one more time after this... but the point is I'll try my best to keep this up to date every step of the way.
So until next time, keep warm folks! Plenty more to come.
Alibata, The Beginning
The way I approached this was Alibata Tattoos, and the interesting discourse a tattoo has as a permanent marking on one's body, to perhaps represent something that is deep and true to the individual, despite the fact that they are hidden away beneath clothing (at least was the case with the models I shot), creating a kind of juxtaposition; the want to show and represent something (Philippine culture), yet burying it beneath clothes.
Fast forward to November.
Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda in the PH) was the strongest typhoon to make landfall in recorded history. So far the death count is 5,000 people, with many more without food and shelter.
As a Filipino, it hit me hard that first of all my countrymen were hit by such a tragedy, and secondly that I cannot be there to help in any way that I can. Slowly, what I wanted to do began to take shape. Over my Christmas break, I will embark on a journey to some of the areas hit by the typhoon (not Tacloban, the lesser publicized islands), and begin to document the resiliency and spirit of the people of the PH. I plan on showing a side that the media has seemingly ignored, straying from what my dad calls "poverty porn" and instead showing communities coming together as one to help out human beings in their most desperate hour.
I'll elaborate more in a coming post. However, I will say that these will not be straight "archival" or "photojournalistic" images. Anyone that knows me already assumed this, but it's important to point out.
I want to eventually have all of these photographs shown, but that decision will come in January. Perhaps there will be the sales of limited prints, with the intention that all sales go towards relief funds.
I should say that to this point, the support has been nothing but amazing, not only to the Philippines in general, but that I am receiving as well as I begin this project. To that end, I just wanted to acknowledge the ECUAD Photo Department, in particular Sandra Semchuck and William Cupit. Sandra has been really supportive of everything I said I wanted to do, and William was kind enough to donate rolls of film to my expedition and paper for when I print the photos.
My thoughts and prayers are with the people of the PH, as they have been for the past few weeks. I cannot wait to begin this exciting new chapter in my young career, and to see if I can make a difference, no matter how small, via my art.
There's more to come folks, and it's exciting.
Guess who's back?
After a long break because of work, college applications, and the laziness, I'm back.
During orientation last week at ECUAD, a keynote speaker spoke about signals and it made me think about my signal. In an age where getting information across is as easy as it is important and abundant, one needs to work extra hard to get there signal to be noticed.
That's where I've been coming short.
I've said this before, but I've never meant it more than I do now. From this point on I'm going to be updating this blog, my website, and my flickr on a constant basis. At least once a week you can expect a blog about college, photography, or art in general as it pertains to an aspiring artist and photographer in a modern world. Photography is an ever changing medium with venues like Flickr or blogs to share your work. Expect to see those venues used as much as I can in the next four years, so do check in from time to time.
Until next time folks, don't be afraid to shoot people on the street.
They do not (often) bite back.
-Antonio Villalon
One of Those Days
As a photographer and an artist, there's nothing more calming than a simple photo shoot, and the processing of the images from that shoot. Like I've said earlier, I've neglected my 365 Faces project, and for a number of reasons.
The problem I think was that I set the bar too high for myself. I mean, one picture a day? Let's be real here. What I want to do now is upload as much as I can, when I can, and at the very least not leave too large a gap between posts.
Let's hope that doesn't blow up in my face. But anyway, here's the latest entry, and my 'comeback' to this project. Hope you like it!
Not Quite There
I apologize. I've let work and just things in general get in the way of not only updating this blog, but my yearlong project as well. As the image suggest, I've brushed my 365 Faces project for the time being.
I completely intend to pick up where I left off, actually starting next month to create a visual diary of my last month in Manila, the last month of my gap year.
To begin with I have a backlog of photo shoot images, among other things, that I want to upload to Flickr. It's good stuff, believe me this.
Later tonight (and by that I mean tomorrow morning) I'll post updates to this blog, chronologically of course, with what I've been up to the past month and a half.
Be excited.
Until next time!
Anton Villalon
Ps. Dirk > Lebron
Media is changing so quickly these days. We've gone from print media newspapers, to online news articles, to not having to wait with RSS feeds. And with social networking, news travels a lot quicker than your bowels might after a morning breakfast burrito.
Enter OnSwipe. You're gonna have to watch to see just how awesome this is.
Check this out interwebs, cause I sure as hell will integrate my website, youtube, vimeo, tumblr, and if it lets me, flickr to this! OnSwipe is bi-winning.
Cheers to my good buddy Jem for showing me this.
Be The Light
The one thing that I used to look forward to every year of High School (besides the dismissal bell) was the one night where I got to be a super hero, change into this persona that didn't care if he threw his back doing what he does. A persona that was the complete opposite of my otherwise timid disposition. A persona ready to wield a mighty axe to do battle with. The battle?
Battle of the Bands.
Okay, cheesy opening paragraph aside, I used to love performing infront of fans, who mostly consisted of loyal friends, for one night in an event that brought out some of the better talents that the high school I used to go to had to offer.
To me, it was not just about winning, it was more an escape. As much as photography is a tool for me to escape from the real world, playing guitar with my band, A Dying Art, gave me a place to release any tension I had built up. And no, not that kind. Get your mind out the gutter.
Music to me is the ultimate expression of emotion, and performing the ultimate release of that emotion. There's nothing like being on a stage, with amplifiers so loud you couldn't hear yourself think, and an audience singing all the words to a song even louder. There was nothing like sharing a brief three and a half minutes with someone in the audience, and for that moment forgetting anything else, and the only thing that mattered was having fun.
I miss it. I miss plucking on six strings. I miss the five people I used to perform next to. I miss having to select four songs out of a music library of thousands to play. I miss the three minutes per song, and how they felt like an eternity while on stage. I miss spending too much time with music when I should have been writing a history essay (I couldn't think of something for two, sorry. and Kdawg, if you're reading this, I always did my essays before paying homage to the gods of rock). And most of all I miss that one night.
Watching these kids play made me completely and utterly jealous. I long for the day that I get to take the stage next to people that share the same feeling as I do when I pick up an instrument, and create noise music.
Soon.
View the set on Flickr. More photos will be uploaded there daily.
Encore
Funny thing about work, is that it takes up a lot of time. As such, my 365 project has been cast aside in favor of an all work and no play mantra as of late. It's not entirely the fault of work though, but the fault is my own as well. Priorities change completely in tandem with responsibilities change completely.
I will still continue on with this task though. I'm completely dedicated to eventually having 365 photos uploaded of different portraits documenting a year of my life... even if it literally takes 2 years to do.
Say tuned folks, cause I'm not going anywhere.
Taking (Photos) for Granted
For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a professional photographer. For as long as I can remember I've used one of my senses a lot more than others: the sense of sight.
In the nature vs nurture debate I'm right smack in the middle--my parents are both artists (one being an architect and art history major, and the other an interior designer and photographer) and I've grown up in an environment that arguably nurtured me to be who I am today. However, genetically I have a disposition to favor my right cerebral cortex. Just ask my high school math teacher about my math grades!
Photography came easy to me, and therefore the decision to do it on a professional level was even easier. But, I wanted to do things the right way, study and learn all I can, before throwing myself into the very large and 'real' world. Somewhere along the way, I seem to have forgotten why I love this in the first place.
In case you do not know, I was forced decided to take a gap year to work, build a portfolio, and ultimately try again next year. Since then I've been extremely caught up in my work, and even my humble attempt at a 365 project has stopped at 70 entries (I began the project mid January).
Long story short, I lost that ever elusive inspiration, and needed to find it again. When I was asked to judge, and attend, my high schools "Battle of the Bands," (stay tuned for follow up entries, once I shortlist the images that will find their way to flickr) I found something that I had lost the past few weeks--excitement. To me, the whole point of photography is freezing a moment, and in the time it takes for you to release the shutter, show everyone what it is like to see things the way you see them. That's what makes photography beautiful and an art form, and I had forgotten that.
There's nothing like a little inspiration in watching kids sing their hearts out, and break an expensive stage in two, hoping to be crowned "champion." It made me feel less like an adult, and more like a kid... granted I'm only 20, and a long ways away from being a lolo, but you get the idea. We take for granted the simple things, the things that made us want to get to where we are in the first place, and I was able to find it again last night.
I missed it. It might sound weird to be reading an entry like this written by me, when others before me have lived fuller, and longer, lives than I have. But that doesn't mean that my message is any less true than theirs. The moral is, if there must be one at all, is do not take yourself to seriously.
Slow down that shutter speed.
Delayed
This past week I've been delayed with this 365 Faces project, and with no reason to be. Ironically, the delay comes after days of having not much work to do, too much down time, and a crazy addiction to NBA 2k11.
But, at least I've got a crazy (digital, not real) crossover to show for it.
I was presented to get back on the horse when my Dad invited me to go to an artists house. They went clear across town to what seemed to be the dirtiest, and most clutter filled studio I have ever seen, to choose a sculpture for a residential development in Cebu.
Sadly, the above paragraph (and image) was nothing more than a teaser. Expect a separate entry on that, a separate soliloquy, and a commentary on 'life.' In other words, the inspiration that I found, and the artists intent that I attached to it. Call it that, or call it the bs I made up to attach to the day's catch.
Either way, it's good stuff. Wait for it.
Stuck gold--old Beatles LPs. Win! (Taken with Instagram at Pacific Plaza Towers)
Outside
I just love days when you wake up in the morning feeling like P-Diddy... you just wake up, look at the clock and realize "hey, it's Sunday" and shut your eyes. Today was like that for me.
I spent the morning with family, like every other Sunday, and the afternoon catching up with an old friend. Much like a man sitting outside, shying away from work and stress to steal a few hours of card games. I'm sure you can all agree when I say that I long for times like this, stolen hours alone to relax and gather ones self after all the hustle and bustle of work.
And then, Monday comes, and you have to stand up, pack that deck of cards away, and head back inside, with a smile on your face. Because, you remember that in another 7 days, It'll be Sunday again.
60 Minutes, Complete Darkness
I sincerely hope you all participated in Earth Hour wherever you are. To be honest the actual implications of everyone turning off their lights doe's not make much of a difference--the generators of these electric company's are still running and therefore no real energy is saved. I was reminded, however, that it's not about the physical implications, it's about taking a stand and showing the world that you do believe in climate change, that you do believe that we are beginning to run the planet, our home that has been so kind and generous to us, to the ground.
I sincerely hope you took a stand. I'm sure you could be away from Facebook or Tumblr for an hour. Hell, if you're a photographer like me, this also posed a challenge with regards to low light photography.
Did you join in? Because I swear I saw some lights on outside my window...
I sincerely hope.