Text by: Kimmy Baraoidan Photos by: Chris Quintana and Kimmy Baraoidan “Fear no forecast. Boards shall roll in rain or shine,” said the announcement on the Volcom Facebook page. The Wild in the Parks skateboarding competition was delayed twice because of thunderstorms. Backyard Skatepark in Sta. Rosa Laguna, is an open-air venue, and it was…
Text by: Kimmy Baraoidan Photos by: Chris Quintana and Kimmy Baraoidan You got to love it when things fall into the place. We were going to shoot a skateboarding competition last Sunday, September 6 in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Coincidentally, Valley of Chrome was playing at SM City Sta. Rosa that day. I sent text messages…
Text by: Kimmy Baraoidan Photos by: Chris Quintana and Kimmy Baraoidan “Si Tatay Dagsa daw nasa UPLB. Nakatambay daw s’ya sa UP gate (Tatay Dagsa says he’s in UPLB. He’s staying at the UP gate),” said my friend Chris in a text message. As luck would have it, I was just around the area, on…
Text and Photos by: Chris Quintana A throng of what could be the country's best skaters has gathered on a Saturday afternoon, August 29, 2015, at Backyard Skatepark in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Elder skaters perched on the adjacent bar drown the humidity with cold beer as they cheer and jeer the young ones arriving and…
Text by: Kimmy Baraoidan Photos by: Chris Quintana and Kimmy Baraoidan “Para sa iyo, kasama kong naliligaw sa ulan (For you, who is lost with me in the rain),” wrote Manuel 'Manix' Abrera on the second page of “14.” The words were printed in long-form cursive text, punctuated with a smiley face. I closed the…
Photos and text by: Sonny Yabao Playing tourist in this modern city is no big deal. In an age when everybody takes pictures with a cellphone, you no longer stand out in a crowd even with a big SLR around your neck. Only a sleepy dog lazing in the sun on the pavement would dare…
Text by Kimmy Baraoidan Photos by Chris Quintana and Kimmy Baraoidan Saturday night traffic jams can leave one passed-out exhausted. It took us almost forever to get to Ja Ke Bar from Los Baños, with private and public vehicles moving at a glacial pace on the old national highway traversing Calamba and Cabuyao. The tricycle…
Text by Kimmy Baraoidan “Art should be unconventional and [should disturb] people,” said visual artist Mideo Cruz in one of his social media accounts earlier this month. His art—mostly made from found materials, from toys, to knickknacks from thrift stores, to other everyday things—is unorthodox and agitates the minds, stirs the emotions, and grates on…
Text by: Chris Quintana Inside the white room, framed square iron sheets hang, bearing in tangible perpetuity the artist's attempt to make sense of the world—faces and shapes from the shadows inked in black surface from the bare white void. Photographer Veejay Villafranca opened his latest exhibition "IRONIC" on July 15, 2015 at Pineapple Lab,…
Text by: Kimmy Baraoidan Photos by: Chris Quintana and Kimmy Baraoidan Authentic. That’s the first word that came to my mind when I experienced the performance of reggae artist Kokoi Baldo during the Nalu Music Fest last May 1 to 3, 2015 in Baler, Aurora. I first saw Kokoi on stage on the first day.…