Taken with my Sony Ericsson W350i

Life is full of surprises for those with the eyes to see. I was browsing around the Art section of Fully Booked in Greenhills and came across this interesting juxtaposition. Whether intended or accidental, and whoever the “artist” was, I will never know. But it doesn’t really matter. It made me smile. Art is alive in someone. That’s all that counts.

When David Alan Harvey asked me a year ago about what I wanted to do besides travel photography, I actually didn’t know what to answer. My style of travel photography is already different from other photographers. I wasn’t just taking pretty pictures; I was making insightful images. He said I was doing a great job, so what’s this about doing more?

Not traveling as much this year (and not taking any travel photos as a consequence), I think I’ve finally figured out what David was getting at. I’ve been shooting a lot of other things lately. I’ve been shooting a lot of other things that I thought I would never shoot. The change is not just in my subjects — the way I make photographs and my vision of myself as a photographer have been infused with a lot of new discoveries, too.

I guess it’s along these lines that I decided to put up this blog. In the last few months, I didn’t just shift gears; I have begun a journey down a completely new road, with David Alan Harvey’s words ringing in my ears over the wind: “Just go out and do the work.” Build it, and they will come. (Oh, yeah!)

Regarding the pitiful state of my travel life in 2008, on the other hand, all is not lost. I’ll be in Singapore this October, and now that the Smart Mountaineering Club has just opened a new Training Season, I’ll be hitting high ground once again, among other things.

There are new Tales to be told. Are you watching closely?