Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The vagrant - Happy mother and child

Photographer: Barry Lu
Winner: Natatanging Larawang Pinoy Contest - Week 1: Mother and Child


The vagrant - Happy mother and child
Photo details:
Camera: Sony DSC-H5

Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 26.7 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV



BARRY LU, is a Taiwanese living in the Philippines for the last 15 years that he feels more like a Pinoy than a Taiwanese. I

During a friend's brother’s wedding, he went out of the church after taking some wedding shots. While standing at the gate. Some kids went near him asking for alms. Then this young, shy and friendly lady caught his attention. With a photographer's instinct, he aimed his camera waited for the right time to press the button. He wanted to portray a happy disposition despite the difficulty that these vagrant people are suffering from. For him, "A difficult life will not beat the happiness in enjoying the life that God has given."

Barry had his first camera, a NIKON FM2, and studied photography in high school. He started with photography for documenting paintings and sculptures when he was still a fine arts student. From 1986 to 1992, he did some documentation work for some people in Taipei, Taiwan. He started with black and white photography, and developed films and printed photos in the traditional dark room techniques. He learned his dark room techniques under the tutelage of Juan I-Jong: Juan's Darkroom Workshop in 1987 (www.jdwvision.com/). I like Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, W. Eugene Smith… etc.

Later on he discovered that taking photos is more than recording images for academic purposes. He learned that photographs can express and convey a message--like his ideas and feeling. This convinced him to venture into photography as another venue for his creativity. However, he stopped his work in photography in 1993 when he came to work in the Philippines. Then two years ago, he bought his first digital camera, and photography has become a hobby.

To keep him abreast with photography, he reads any kind of material on fine art, design and photography--in books and magazines or surf the internet. He also spends time visit art museums and galleries. Now he focuses on fine art, surreal images, people, and street photography.

Aside from photograhy, Barry has found his niche in product design. He worked for a home goods export company as a designer team leader for 12 years. In 2007, he started doing freelance design work like “Town and Country” (Oct 2007) and “Lifestyle Asia” (March 2008).


His advice on photography newbies?
"I think people who are just starting to take photos, spend too much time on cameras and lenses or technique. But for me, my motive for taking photos is not just to get a good shot; it's about the circumstances related to the shot, to learn some things from people and nature. That's the most important part for me."


SEE MORE of Barry Lu's photos at: Flickr.

Based on the Interview of purplbutrfly of Larawang Pinoy Group Flickr Site

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