Balaguer-Mercado presents Curious Comfort at the Avellana Art Gallery—Opens Sept. 28!

Artist Francesca Balaguer-Mercado will hold an exhibit of series of photographs inspired by personal life-altering events, Curious Comfort—a collection of new works at the Avellana Art Gallery from September 28 to November 16, 2013.

This exhibit of images represent experiences with loved ones, and her physical and emotional states during those trying times since her return to Manila in 2011.

In series of ten images all created with the underlying belief that something beautiful can come from an otherwise arduous situation, the images that vary in sizes representing the scale of emotions felt by the artist, from large and assaulting to small and intimate.

Graduated with honors from the University of the Philippines, Diliman with a degree in Film and Audio Visual Communication, she later moved to the US and pursued further studies, earning an MFA degree in Photography at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Her experiences and apprenticeships abroad have shaped her extremely hands-on process, resulting in a unique style of visual storytelling.

Curious Comfort's opening is on September 28, 6 PM.
Avellana Art Gallery is located at 2680 F.B. Harrison Street, Pasay City.
The gallery is open from Mondays through Saturdays, 10AM-7PM.

For questions and inquiries, contact 833-3357 or email avellana_gallery@yahoo.com

Visit www.francescabalaguer.com for more details! 

Pose For A Cause

They say there are two ways to live: 

you can live as if nothing is a miracle, 

and you can live as if everything is a miracle.

Last April of this year, I almost died. It was I thought just continuous ashtma attacks for months that I have never imagined it was already Pneumonia. I was lucky enough to have a good doctor (who, by the way, calls me "Pa-baby" everytime LOL!), a loving family, and my bestfriend and adopted sibling, Mariane. She adjusted her work schedule and stayed with me and Mum the whole time I was in the hospital.

Mariane eating my hospital food while on my bed. LOL!

Last Thursday while at work, one of my closest friend Brent added me and Zham in a conference chat and talked about a photoshoot project for a cause – The Project Miracle.

"This project started to help a friend who is undergoing cancer treatment. And now, we're already on it's fourth batch and it is a dream come true for us to be able to extend help to more people by having iCare as our beneficiary." 

- Zham Libunao, photographer

Mariane also works part-time modeling and she'd be delighted to know I'll be sending her to the photoshoot as my first advance birthday present for her. :)

Anyone interested may join the photoshoot at ZOE News Studio, 22nd floor Strata 2000, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas, Pasig City on the following dates:

October 6 - Saturday from 10AM to 7PM

October 9 - Tuesday from 8AM to 6PM

Registration fee is Php 800, inclusive of the following:

- unlimited shots stored on a CD

- four (4) post processed photos both in soft copies and 4R prints

- hair and make up by a professional make up artist

- bonus group shots for those who will join in groups

Reserve a slot for the shoot by pre-registering. Send your name, address, contact number, e-mail address and desired photoshoot schedule to karen@kkbmovement.org. You may also contact 0915-316-7499 or 0908-916-8050.

Pose for a cause! 

Join the Project Miracle's benefit photoshoot for iCare Compassion Ministries

For more information, visit www.project-miracle.com

The Project Miracle Facebook page

or

Follow The Project Miracle on Twitter!

Lee Shadow Play Winners

Night lights starts to glow with overflowing excitement of artistic minds and all roads led to B-Side Bar in Malugay Street, Makati City as culminating party held Saturday, September 1st to announce the winners for the Lee Shadow Play Photo Contest by Lee Jeans Philippines.   

Creative Director Dale Lopez and Visual Artist Kiko Escora (both Lee Urban Riders x Manila Fixed Gear designers) reviewed all qualified and worthy-of-winning entries, together with Fashion Photographer Kai Huang and other Lee Jeans Philippines’ executives, and closed the Shadow Play Photo Contest with the following decisions:

“Monster Shadow”

by Cy P. Mercado

3rd Runner up

“The Right Form of Christmas”

by Aldin Krisnan Barrido  

2nd Runner up

“Going Home”

by Kliene Manaois Eco

1st Runner up

“The Marching Band”

by Robert Reyes

GRAND WINNER

“I was facing the sun when I took the photo where the subject produced silhouettes. And when I inverted the picture, the resulting shadow became more distinguished and clearly showed a Marching Band.” 

Robert Reyes, an events photographer, explained. Reyes said the photo was taken during the Annual Ibon-Ebon Festival in Candaba, Pampanga.

Reyes won $ 2,000 USD while the three runners up won a Lee Urban Riders x Manila Gear fixie bikes designed by Kiko Escora and Dale Lopez’s Team.

Pasok mga Bwitre and Nyko Maca with Gafieira performed which gave an awesome ending to the Lee Shadow Play. Winning photos will be shown in most electronic billboards along EDSA.

You may also visit Lee Shadow Play website to view these photos 

and the rest of the online entries submitted.

Like the Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter 

to get ahead on What’s Up and Hot on Lee Jeans Philippines!

Lee Shadow Play

I am my dad. I go, not only for the name but most importantly, for quality. He taught me that every single thing I buy should be worth more than it's price, an investment! This is why I see fashion as an investment. And when we speak of jeans, Lee has always been part of Filipino closets and our every week wear for years.

And as a giveback, Lee Jeans Philippines invites everyone to feel the pulse and rediscover the various experiences of where they live, and capture these moments to share and inspire through Lee Shadow Play Contest.

Lee Shadow Play is an online photography contest that will run until the 31 of August, 2012.

From basics - the shadows formed during sunrise or sunset, to the shadows created by trees, buildings/houses or electricity poles, to shadows formed by your favorite ice cream vendor, shadows of children playing in the street, or even from objects due to non-natural light sources.

Shadow Play encourages participants to play with shadows in their photographs.

Since light is the key to photography, one of the first things most photographers learn about is highlights, midtones, and shadows. All these elements all play a vital role in the craft that spotlights how a subject's shadow can really add something' special to a photograph.

Here are some of my favorite Shadow Play art pieces from JPMAG.com:

Mary Poppins et le Chat botté by Valentina Fontanella

Zebra by Mato Pavlovic

Yin Yang Shadows by Yasmina Baggili

Contest Mechanics:

1. Open to all 18 years old and above, photograph the shadows of the city.

2. Upload original photo entries to either Facebook or Twitter.

On Facebook, simply tag the Lee Jeans Philippines Fan Page and a geo-tag.

On Twitter, just include @LeeJeansPhils #LeeShadowPlay and a geo-tag.

You can use Instagram on your smartphone or go old school and use your cameras and upload your entries to www.leeshadowplay.com.

Photos should be 800 x 600 pixels, 72 dpi and in JPEG format.

3. Include a short description on every photo with maximum of 10 words.

4. Can upload photos up to three entries. Photos don’t necessarily have to be self-portraits for as long as your photo plays the shadow beautifully.

5. Photos should not contain drastic photo effects and editing using any kind of software/applications. Entry with such will be invalid and will not be considered.

Criteria:

Composition and unique subject matter —25%

Photo description —25%

Natural lighting/use of shadows —25%

Votes —25%

Judges will choose winning photos weekly based on the criteria provided. If your photo doesn’t win that week, you may still have a chance to win for the following weeks. 
Judging for weekly winners is every Wednesdays, 3pm.

Weekly winners will be announced  through registered mail, LED display on EDSA and Lee microsite. Announcement of weekly winners is every  Thursdays.

o August 9 weekly winner announcement

o August 16 weekly winner announcement

o August 23 weekly winner announcement

o August 30 weekly winner announcement

o September 1 grand winner announcement

Three winners weekly  get Php 1,500  worth of Lee gift certificates each  (valid from August 9, 2012 to August 9, 2013). One winner weekly gets a Lee x Lomography La Sardina camera.

All weekly winners shall be eligible to join the final judging phase.  Runners up get one fixie bike each designed by Kiko Escora.

The grand prize winner gets $2,000 USD.
Grand prize winner will be announced on September 1, 2012 in the event at the B-Side.

For more information, visit www.leeshadowplay.com

You may also post and ask questions to Lee Jeans Philippines Fan Page 

and Twitter account.