masskara boy Photo

Photographer’s Note

MASSKARA means two things. “mass,” a collective english word, and “kara” or face in spanish. masskara then became “a mass of faces.” the festival first began in 1980 when the province of negros occidental relied on sugar cane as its primary agricultural crop, and the price of sugar was at an all-time low. in april 1980, the inter-island vessel don juan carrying many negrenses, including those belonging to prominent families in bacolod city, sank. there was a great loss of life.

so the city's artists, local government and civic groups decided to hold a festival of smiles, because the city at that time was also known as the city of smiles. then gave the birth of the masskara festival. now on its 28th anniversary, the city promises more smiles, and bigger productions, both to the locals and to the tourists.

isaac, the masskara boy in the picture is a member of baranggay 23 in bacolod city. they were the 1st runner up in the recent annual masskara festival 2007. they also won a couple of special awards like best in concept, and best in costume.

adelune, Bruno40, calimex has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

dvlazar (6488) 2007-11-12 4:19

Hey Biyahengpinoy -
Welcome to TE! I like your portrait - the warm sunlight and the bright and vivid colors. The angle and framing keeps things interesting - very nice indeed.
Greetings from Australia!
-Dave

berek (29029) 2007-11-12 6:37

Hi Biyahengpinoy,
welcome TE . its creative portrait. I like traditional colors and light. well framed picture . greetings from Istanbul
Burak Erek

trekks (14334) 2007-11-12 7:33

Hello long-double named biya

Welcome to TE! Hope that you will enjoy it.

Good portrait shot, although I would try not to shoot in direct sunlight, giving shadows. Good expression and costume colors.

Angle of shot makes it interesting, although the head crop may be avoided. Well done!

TFS, cheers
Bill

Morac (20891) 2007-11-12 11:22

Hello Biyahengpinoy

Welcome to TE,
Beautiful composition, beautiful colors and beautiful glance of the boy
Regards
Marc

adelune (2) 2007-11-13 7:43

The juxtaposition between the face and the mask... Very successful! With beautiful colors! And a very beautiful visage! TFS this great shot Biyahengpinoy, alain

Bruno40 (6442) 2007-11-13 18:22

Hi there,
Welcome to TE!!
I like your first photo, this portrait is very well framed and very colorful. It has good DOF and sharpness.
About your note... it is very funny!
Pinoys are experts on make up words, or changing the meaning of them. Classic examples are "seguro", "syempre", "izkyerda", etc. Now I should add "masskara"!!
FYI, "masskara" comes from the Spanish word "mascara", equivalent to the English word "mask" (the thing that this boy is holding in his right hand). In turn, mascara comes from French "masque", with possible ancient roots in Latin “mascus” o “masca” (ghost) or Arabic maskharah (joker, masked man) (please note that Arabs ruled Spain for 800 years and many Spanish words come from Arabic).
Anyway, I find the explanation very original.
Keep posting
regards
Jorge

marietom (32076) 2007-11-14 0:39

Hi biyahengpinoy,

Joli portrait, avec ce beau masque à côté. Belle image.
Marie

calimex (1029) 2008-01-22 17:33

Very vibrant composition. I like the way my eye travels in zig-zag fashion from the top to the bottom of this image. Thank you for sharing this and helpful information about artisans in this part of the Philippines.
Best,
José