Tourism Through Photography – Philippines Photographers Unite!
September 15, 2008
What better way to help our country than spread the news through our photos! Tourism through Photography! Lets spread the photo bug and show the world the beauty of our country! We are undertaking a special project and that is to develop Festival Websites by using our photos in our travels to various parts of the Philippines.
I started my quest early 2002 and this blog came to life in 2003 (i set it up because it seemed like everyone had a blog, didnt realize it was going to get serious later on and get some attention online.) It all started with the Sinulog.. a blessing in disguise.. (met my lovely wife in cebu) we got married and made a promise to my parents that I was going to give them a baby girl.. thus started my panata to the sto. nino.. i got my wish to have my baby girl and decided to make my panata for life… to visit sto nino every year.
When I started shooting the Sinulog Festival in 2003, I didnt know what it was to bring.. slowly i figured out that why not show the beauty of the Philippines, We have a rich and colorful culture that is unique to our islands.
After shooting Sinulog for a couple of years, I decided to studyIother festivals and found out that a lot of them where devoted to the Sto Nino too! thus started my quest to travel around the country and visit these Festivals.
The year after that realization, I decided that it was time to expore, so I decided to go to the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City. Boy oh boy! I caught the Dinagyang Fever.. and it was never the same.. I have been going back every year.. The Beats and the Energy is something you have to experience..
Where am i now? well i decided to go a little further.. for every festival i went or plan to go to, I have set up a website.. not complete yet but will try to put it together through the years and some research. The original intention was to make a book, I still plan to do that but for now the festival websites are better since they can help in promoting the festivals and spread tourism over the islands and being online breaks down borders and barriers, we are able to share our photos to anyone in the world (the book will just stay on the coffee table and collect dust!) so digital is the way for now..
Here is the list of some of the festival sites i have set up or plan to set up under the philippinefiestas.com domain
PANAGBENGAFESTIVAL.COM
HIGANTESFESTIVAL.COM
HERMOSAFESTIVAL.COM
KASADYAANFESTIVAL.COM
DIYANDIFESTIVAL.COM
CARACOLFESTIVAL.COM
CARABAOFESTIVAL.COM
KAAMULANFESTIVAL.COM
KALILANGANFESTIVAL.COM
This doesnt end here, I guess I will be busy for the next couple of years travelling around and spreading the word.. drop me a line if you want to join. Put value in your photography and share it with others.. (of course sharing means only viewing it for free and enjoying it and not stealing it and printing it somewhere without even citing the source.. tsk..tsk..)
For now, go shoot and promote Tourism though your photography!
- more festival photos online – http://photo.net.ph/index-29.html – this is just a few of my photos most of them are offline for protection.
Anton Sheker for the 19th Philippine Travel Mart Photo Exhibit
August 15, 2008
Anton Sheker one of the featured Travel Photographers in the upcoming 19th Philippine Travel Mart Photo Exhibit.
Anton Sheker is obsessed with the Philippines’ numerous festivals—from the most elaborate and popular to the most obscure. His works, which traverse a wide spectrum that includes interiors, food, art, people and scenic landscapes, have seen print here and abroad, including Mabuhay magazine and Islands, a Florida-based magazine that specializes in features of idyllic islands. He is currently working on a personal project, now on its fifth year in the making: a book-form documentation of the most storied Filipino fiestas.
“Iloilo Paraw Regatta ‘08”
Sail Season
Anton Sheker captured the assiduous last-minute preparations before the kickoff of Ilo-ilo festival’s main event, the Regatta. Held every second Sunday of March, the festival is a floating extravaganza of colorful, hand-painted sails and locally crafted paraw, the local outrigger.
High Spirits
Sheker is particularly drawn to the almost electric and unique energy that each festival generates, or what results from a potent mix of the vibrant costumes, the choreography, the spectators, and the history of the festival. At the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo, held every fourth Sunday of January, the atmosphere reaches fever pitch with the chanting of “Hala Bira!”
