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Monday, February 06, 2006
A time for the Arts
By Ted Lugtu
I WAS so impressed by the published photos of winners in this year’s Sinulog it was natural for this inveterate art afficionado to relate them with the current celebration of National Arts Month this February.
Any visitor to the Basilica del Sto. Niño Museum can’t help noticing the huge blowup of a photo related to the Sinulog photo contests of the past that shows two children in colorful getups for the occasion, very obviously enthralled by the goings-on before their eyes while standing beside the parade route. One of them, with both hands upraised while holding a small Sto. Nino statuette, was obviously in the midst of an emotional shout of glee.
The photo won the Grand Prize Overall Award for that year in 1984. Easily its most striking feature was the emotional outburst caught on camera at the precise fraction of a second it occurried, something also present in Amper Campana’s Grand Prize award for 2006 in point of “timing”. In photographic art particularly, this counts a lot, given the chancy nature of the craft for capturing images vis-à-vis the boundless time frames available to painters.
The same “perfect timing” is very palpable in Alex Badayos’ second place win in the Contingent category. In point of compositional virtues, such a winner is difficult to match. The placement of the main subject dancer’s smiling face fits the traditional “rule of the thirds”. That her eyes and smile are directed at the Sto. Nino statuette she holds with her left hand while her right points to a diagonal of fuzzy highlights and colors leading to the upper right corner of the entire photo, couldn’t have been achieved better even in painting.
Badayos’ other winner, second place in the Festival Queen category, is also commendable for timing, among other virtues compositionally speaking. Its only weak point is the near invisible image of the Sto. Nino due to lighting considerations at the time of click.
The rest of the published winners may be said to typify many winners of past Sinulog tilts since 1981: mainly documentaries for the occasion with few exceptions.
Going by such general observations, today’s current batch of photographers who participate in photo contests such as the yearly Sinulog are in many ways, a new breed of art connoiseurs. As with everything else, Cebu photography is far from static. Here’s a personal wish to soon see all the year’s winners in a photo exhibit?
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 6, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here.
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