A team of Filipino photographers are putting this art form, front and centre and keeping it top of mind
Fotomoto is a photography collective founded by a team of vibrant visionaries who see a bright and bold future for this art form in the country. The founders include a roster of respected photographers: Neal Oshima, Paco Guerrero, Wawi Navarroza, Tom Epperson, Veejay Villafranca, Jes Aznar, ESL Chen, Apa Ongpin, Gio Panlilio, Raena Abella, Edric Chen, Tammy David, Miguel Nacianceno, RJ Fernandez, Sandra Palomar, Jason Quibilan, and Jake Verzosa.
For them, the objective propelling Fotomoto is to promote Philippine photography through the lens of the team’s shared experiences. Its founders who are seasoned photographers themselves bring quite a lot to the table; they hope to encourage discourse about the Philippines by way of their own personal diversity, analysing gender, socio-economic status, age and geography with this project.
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“Love of photography is the unifying factor. The beauty of it is that we come from different practices of the craft—from art to fashion to photojournalism; thus, our collective knowledge and experiences contribute to the strength of the team. Our common perspective is that we should do something to contribute to Philippine photography and not just for ourselves,” says Aznar.
Setting out to ignite conversations about photography’s role in our lives, in December 2021 Fotomoto rolled out their inaugural project: a multi-venue exhibition in a variety of restaurants and retail establishments around the metro to make art more accessible. Without 100 participating photographers and around 300 prints, they definitely made an impactful entry.
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