a picture a day: the best of project 365, 2010 edition

i've left this thing hanging for too long, so it's time to call this project closed. i had too many pictureless days for december, so i thought i'd just gather here some of my fave pictures from the whole project, including my best from the december set.

so with the 2010 edition of project 365 done, a few things i've learned:

1.) there are lots of good pictures out there waiting to be taken. and it can be a simple matter of opening one's eyes.

2.) corollary to no. 1, always bring your camera with you, even on the most mundane occasions. you never know what'll come falling from the sky after taking that left turn on the street.

3.) creativity requires ***a lot of work***. it can be exhausting, but ultimately, rewarding.

4.) still, it helps to be lucky... most especially in photography...

5.) i'm starting to appreciate this thoroughly postmodern notion: nothing is original.

6.) very important: things aren't always how they appear to be.

7.) empathy is useful. but so is a sense of humor.

8.) technical perfection is not the end all and be all of the photograph. it is the story.

9.) sunset photos are cliches, but one can't help taking a picture of it everytime you see one.

10.) no matter how many times it's been said, or how corny it sounds, it still rings true: the world is beautiful.

*****



2010.01.06 yesterday's news



2010.01.07 street urchin, on a jeepney from sm to ayala, mabolo, cebu city



2010.01.20 a fading portrait of my late stepfather



2010.02.10 reminds me of the matrix, with fish instead of humans, and without the cables and plugs. fish for sale outside mandaue central school, mandaue city.



2010.02.17 at the saints peter and paul church, ormoc city.



2010.02.21 sunset, ormoc bay.



2010.03.08 guardia civil driving away the children, intramuros, manila



2010.03.17 off with her head! mannequins, mango square, cebu city



2010.03.23 mascot seducing kids to go to jollibee, downtown, cebu city



2010.04.02 good friday, gethsemane church, casuntingan, mandaue city



2010.04.14 street light, f. ramos st., cebu city



2010.04.21 palm reading, near sto. nino church, cebu city



2010.04.22 my morning meds



2010.04.28 shelter, cebu city



2010.05.02 bonfire at the beach, bantayan island



2010.05.07 parhelion, cebu city



2010.05.10 waiting to vote on election day, maguikay elementary school, mandaue city



2010.05.16 near city hall, cebu city



2010.05.21 downtown, cebu city



2010.06.06 dinner time.



2010.06.19 on a trip to the mountains, sitio cantipla, baranggay tabunan, cebu city.



2010.06.26 bookshop, lahug, cebu city



2010.07.04 still life with gulay



2010.07.05 playing with my strobe again



2010.07.14 the river crossing, after an afternoon of heavy rain, talamban, cebu city



2010.07.22 rainy days don't have to be so bad, if you have somebody to share them with



2010.08.05 light and shadow: the city at night



2010.08.15 "i know that face..."



2010.08.20 the malleability of pictures: either he's repairing the jeepney, or the jeepney just ran over him, or the jeepney ran over him while he was repairing it, or ...



2010.08.24 puddles are windows, where eyes from under the ground stare at you. a rainy evening in the city.



2010.09.01 a lonely street, a quiet evening



2010.09.02 unreachable



2010.09.08 going home, after another stress filled day.



2010.09.19 let your light shine



2010.10.05 the street photo as self portrait, near tesda, lahug, cebu city



2010.10.22 a picture of my sanity, on one of the most stressful months on record



2010.10.30 hubog



2010.11.01 all saint's day, mandaue city public cemetery



2010.11.07 la nina



2010.11.16 this was supposed to be a sign saying "no tresspasseng", near tesda, lahug, cebu city



2010.11.20 2 girls



2010.12.04



2010.12.27 again, my affinity for dark lonely streets



2010.12.31 the end and the beginning

*****

for the january 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the february 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the march 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the april 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the may 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the june 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the july 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the august 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the september 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the october 2010 album of my project 365, click here.
for the november 2010 album of my project 365, click here.

in the hidden corners of the world

you'd be surprised to learn that there are people sitting in hidden corners of the world, people that you never knew were there as you passed blissfully by, people that, as far as you're concerned, don't really exist. but they are there. you don't see them. but they see you.



banilad, cebu city, september 2010

a man said to the universe...

A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."

- Stephen Crane, War is Kind



better viewed large :) click to view the large image

an old photo from my archive, taken from atop the marcelo fernan bridge overlooking the mactan strait, september 2008

somewhere else

downtown cebu city, may 2010

somewhere on some corner...

happy valentine's day! :)



banilad, cebu city, may 2010

broken

the sudden sound of breaking glass
the silence broken by this breaking
only for the night to gather the shards
the silence whole and unbroken once again

territorial integrity, or, a loner's dilemma: how to preserve one's solitude without becoming a complete asshole

my personal air space was invaded last saturday. you know, that implicitly declared perimeter surrounding our persons, which, when crossed by other parties, causes alarm bells to sound in our heads. THAT space. i was having my coffee in my favorite spot at bo's coffee club sm branch, committing my thoughts to paper, when this lady and her kid comes up to me, violates my borders, and disturbs my peace.

but before i continue, let me explain why that spot is my favorite piece of prime real estate at bo's coffee club sm branch. the spot isn't your usual cafe setup of 2 or 3 hard wood chairs surrounding a small coffee table. it's actually a complete sala set, with the table, a sofa, and 2 chairs, the sofa and the 2 chairs thick with foam and covered in leather. but what makes it really valuable is what makes prime real estate really valuable: location, location, location. it's situated near the entrance, with a cinematic view of the flow of humanity just strolling by the mall, making it an ideal spot for contemplation, and for spotting chicks. can you imagine it now? ok... let's continue...

so there i was having my coffee in my favorite spot, committing my thoughts to paper, when this lady and her kid comes up to me, violates my borders, and disturbs my peace. she looks at me, sees that i'm alone, then promptly plants her butt on the empty chair across me. THEN she asks me if i had companions. i say no. i ask her if she had other companions. she says she's just waiting for something. wrong answer. i look around and see at least 7 other vacant tables visible from my spot, with probably more at the back. but what really got my goat was that she never asked me if it was ok or not, to take that seat across me.

but she seemed like a nice enough lady, so i tried to be cool with it. i breathed in, put my pencil down, and stared at the people walking outside, hoping it would be quick. then her coffee arrives. wonderful.

apparently, she had some business with the coffee shop people, something about a broken fridge. one by one, the coffee shop people come and talk with her. i try glancing at the lady every now and then with a sad (not angry, not annoyed, not VERY sad, just a bit so) look on my face to try and communicate my discomfort as gently as possible. unfortunately, but with an uneasy look on her face, she tries to ignore me. she just sits there and crosses her arms over her chest in between sips of coffee and talks with the coffee shop people, while her little boy sits beside her playing with packets of sugar and creamer.

at last, the 'something' she was waiting for (another one of the coffee shop people) arrives. they talk for about 10 minutes, then they leave. but before doing so, she faces me and says 'thank you'. i nod. ahh finally... peace...

is it so much to ask to be left alone? ok, i admit, i am not a very friendly person. i do try NOT to be an asshole, i'm just NOT FRIENDLY. plus, i don't feel very comfortable around strangers. and i usually prefer to be alone.

and it IS perfectly within my right to demand to be left alone in my spot. i think i bought that right together with my coffee. true, i don't own a title over the place, but i do 'own' it, at least for the duration it takes me to finish my coffee.

on second thought, maybe i AM being an asshole. the lady wasn't really THAT rude. and she DID thank me for sharing my spot with her. some people may find my annoyance funny. you may actually be laughing at me right now. some people may not even find it an issue to share that empty seat in front of them. i am certainly NOT one of them though. maybe i'm just being too selfish, no?

is it really that big a sacrifice to share the untaken seat in front of me? it's not like i'm gloria arroyo allowing china and vietnam to explore philippine territory for oil. dude, for crying out loud, that chair is NOT the spratlys.

is it really possible to preserve one's solitude without becoming a complete asshole? hmmm... i guess it IS possible. but only if i climb on top of some mountain to eschew any human contact, and stay there for the rest of my life.

as i write my thoughts on paper, fate suddenly decides to test the resolve of my new found 'epiphany'. about 30 minutes after the lady with the kid left, 3 oriental looking people approach me, a man, a woman, and a teenage girl, probably father, mother, and daughter. i see that the cafe is almost full. the girl, in halting and thickly accented english (which is not to say it's 'bad' english, she was perfectly understandable), asks me if i had any 'friends'.

i almost burst out laughing. she probably meant 'companions', but it's a good question nonetheless. just when i admit on paper that i am not a friendly person, here goes someone asking me if i had 'friends'. how appropriate.

while assuming that she DID mean to say 'companions', i say no. she asks if it's ok that they take their seats there with me. i say yes. they take their seats. at least, this time, they asked.

the lunch break monologues, or, musings on eating alone

11:55 am. i look at my pc's clock as the grumblings of my empty stomach signal that it is time for lunch. quietly, i rejoice. at last, some rest from the mind numbing torture of this earthly purgatory which i call my job. slowly, i get up and reach for my bag, and take out my packed lunch. i open it to see what's inside. ahh, fried fish and rice. very pinoy.

slowly, with my baon on one hand, i take my cup and my only spoon from my desk, and walk wearily to the pantry. all is quiet. no one is there. it seems like everybody's gone out for lunch, which means i have the pantry all to myself.

i put my baon on the table, then take my cup and spoon to the sink to wash. silently, i stare through the window and look down on the city as the midday sun pours its fiery rays upon the populace. the sun seems to be angriest just when everybody's off for a break. the irony doesn't escape me.

i take the scrubbing pad from the side of the sink, open the faucet, and wet the scrubing pad. applying a small amount of dishwashing detergent, i scrub the cup and the spoon religiously. i open the faucet again, and rinse. i rinse a second time to make sure no soap is left. then i get a weird urge to to rinse it again for a third time, just to be sure. don't be so stupid, i say to myself. could this be a sign of obsessive compulsive disorder? but that's a psychiatric disorder! no, you are not going mad, i assure myself.

i turn around to the water dispenser and fill my cup with cold water, then go back to the table. with my lunch waiting, i set the plastic box containing my food in front of me and open it. with my spoon and the finger of my left hand, i gingerly transfer the two little pieces of fried fish embedded in my rice to the cover of my little lunch box. i take my spoon, then... wait. i forgot to bring my fork again. oh well. so i start eating.

with my spoon holding the fish in place, i pinch out a little piece. then after spooning out some rice, i hungrily give myself a mouthful. i start chewing. and chewing. but something's wrong.

it doesn't taste right. it's so... bland. then i start grumbling. i should've brought some soy sauce with me. or maybe somebody else here has some soy sauce? so i search the pantry, i open the cupboards, i look in the fridge. but to no avail. i guess i'll have to content myself to eating a bland meal.

and then, eureka, an epiphany.

i suddenly get a sense that i'm somehow doing everything wrong. my fried fish tastes bland without any soy sauce. eating with a spoon feels weird without a fork. and here i am, sitting in the pantry table, eating lunch, all alone.

montaigne was right. i really shouldn't eat all by myself.

and i think i need to buy myself a new fork.