Wagas

One morning, I saw my photojournalism professor on TV. The program's segment was about the trade of sports photography and a couple of the photographers who made their mark in the field. Sir Dennis, my prof, gave an advice to the aspiring photographers:

"Basta gawin niyo ng mahusay. Kungbaga kay Goku, ilabas niyo na ang isandaang porsyento niyo."

I muttered to myself then, "Sir! Nakalimutan mo na ba? Si Taguro yung naglalabas ng isandaang porsyento. Energy ball ang ginamit ni Goku."

That brief feature on Sir reminded me of one of the best courses I took in college. The weekly meetings were something I had always looked forward to because Sir Dennis is a very engaging teacher and downright hilarious in his lectures inside and outside the classroom. Every week, we were given a subject to take photos of, and we would present them in class for Sir's evaluations and tips. And every week, the subject got more and more difficult to accomplish. Not only did we learn how to operate our cameras and know the correct settings, we also learned to push our limits and be determined to accomplish the task given to us--be it from convincing models to pose nude to pushing our way in a frenzied crowd for some shots of the action happening. We were made to see the potential of photography as a vital instrument for social development, and the camera as both an artistic and scientific tool for information and expression.

I learned to appreciate the craft and understand the ethics and principles in the discipline, largely due to the guidance and funny anecdotes from Sir. I think it's one of the perks of studying in the State U--not only do we have the opportunity to be under the tutelage of the nation's best in the academe, we also get taught and trained by the top-calibre practitioners themselves. These anecdotes were mostly from his years and years worth of experience as a seasoned and renowned photojournalist. These stories of shutterbugging across the globe he willingly shared and I could see that each one of us in the class hung on to every word Sir said. I could say his method of teaching is not one that I encountered often; his rapport with us failed to fall into the teacher-student category. However, extremely close to his students he might be, I could still feel overflowing respect for him, and I know my classmates do, too, for his sheer excellence and laudable desire to impart knowledge.

My photojournalism class was exciting and taxing, but also truly inspiring. I have experienced and tried so many new things in my quest to be even just a beginner in photography. Sir, despite his seemingly carefree and comic disposition, taught me that anything can be possible if you have the guts to push forward and set aside any form of hesitation. He kept reminding us to just love the craft, and while taking things seriously could well put you ahead of the game, we still have to make sure to enjoy what we're doing. Otherwise, photography (or anything else we cared to to do) will just end up being a troublesome burden we would have to carry. "Third World na nga tayo, magpapakalungkot pa kayo? Enjoy niyo lang," I remember him telling us more than once.

I know I have a lot to learn still, and I am glad to have a head start courtesy of the awesomeness of Sir Dennis, amid his jokes, taunts and wagas na kapilyuhan.