Photographer of the Week

Transcending Rules to Create Better Pictures-
by Yugel Losorata–

To break rules means that one should know them first. In the field of photography, this thing makes sense when a lensman realizes that the basic and traditional guidelines limit the boundaries of art – not because he is oblivious of simple arithmetic and he wants to get away with it.

This was the mindset of Joachim Bondoc when he began stretching the fundamentals of his artistic medium that allowed him to produce more stunning images. For him, Photoshop is more of graphics, and therefore must not be confused with good photography.

“The greatest photographs are those that defy the rules and change the world,” he told Picture Perfect, pointing out that an effective picture “sells to the target market and delivers the message.”

His photographs are reflective of his skill harnessed by familiarity of the essentials and the confidence to tweak these and create extraordinary photographs. He strongly advised: “Know the rules and scientific principles of photography. Break the rules to deliver the message you intend to send.”

Then he sent a stronger one-liner that should put ‘Photoshop-dependent artists’ back to Earth. “Photoshop is more of graphic arts than photographic arts.”

Bondoc’s work usually deals with the world of advertising and corporate communications which for him is more technical than creative. His reason is that, “creative freedom is limited by the requirements of the creative/art director.” Of course, if one can’t face the pressure of handling the technicality of the matter, then he has no business being in the field at all. Bondoc is one who does some balancing act in taking care of both technical requirements and creative faculties. The latter is more projected during his wedding shoots, another of his forte where according to him, “photography would be most fun.”

He shared, “I started my own photography company, H-photography (mainly a wedding and event photography company at first) in 1999 and eventually changed the name to Joachim Bondoc Photography due to a deviation into specialty photography for editorials, advertising, and corporate communications (from 2005 to present). Just recently, I am venturing again into wedding photography with partner Benigno Aldaba under the company name Studio IX photography.”

Marketing is vital for Bondoc’s trade that he has to drop by from one possible client to another and show his portfolio. Only those that have something to boast need do this and he has a lot of that, often generating several advertising photography deals.

For weddings, this photography talent used to join quite a number of bridal fairs to increase his clientele. At present, he and his business partner are still building the new brand Studio IX for the mainstream wedding photography field. Their new company recently held an exhibit called “IX Overture – Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)” at the Rockwell in Makati City.

According to Bondoc as the creative director, Studio IX’s thrust is to promote a photography service that brings back the essence of picture making. The company argues that imaging field nowadays is filled with digitally post-processed images that are brilliantly aesthetic but lacking in substance and meaning. It aims to deliver “images that tell a story with simplicity, modesty, and sensitivity.”

“The best thing about being a photographer is forming something out of nothing,” he said. “The light that we photographers see is different from that seen by those who are not into the industry/field.”

At age 12, Bondoc already started looking closely to what photography does. Three years after, he got his first SLR (Canon AE-1) that he used until his first wedding stint for a friend in 1997.

Recognition for him comes from within and joining contests for trophies is not much his interest. However, he is too good not to be noticed that he still got some honors like the Silver for 2006 Araw Values Awards (that DDB included) for ChildHope Asia, Best 2005 Annual Report with VJ Graphics for MacroAsia, the winning photo in 1999 at the monthly Fotosurf, Netherlands competition, and a recognition from 360 Ventures being among the best submissions for a millennium project in 2000.

Asked if he prefers pictures without color over those loaded with, he replied in poetic tone, “I’d shoot any medium but have bias for black-and-white film. It just captures reality in an unreal means with depth of meaning and substance.”

Bondoc’s images never lose that kind of appeal.