Village of Windows: A walk-through in Fotomoto 22’s Home Exhibit
How fast can a photo summon you in their worlds? If not, how gradual? In truth, the celerity is not fixed. A photo exists, printed and plastered on mobile walls, alive and well yet awaiting our perusal. And, the magic then begins the time you choose to behold the frame. This thought is reminiscent of the English author, Samuel Johnson’s quote, “A writer only begins a book, a reader finishes it.” Then the narratives would soon take their time to circle around, seep in, or pierce through you.
Fotomoto 22’s exhibit established a village of ebbing and flowing alive stills. Giving way to the multitude of windows, portals to the often regarded simple yet nostalgically thought-provoking theme, ‘Home’.
As we were all encased in the comfort and confines of our own roofs for the previous years, it became a closer confidante. But apart from the physical abode, the visceral; a familiar sensation, a comfortable connection, and a regimen all count as one. As Fotomoto introduces,
“We have emerged from the past two years with new perspectives on our homes, due to prolonged isolation, working and studying from home, migration, displacement, loss of one’s home or finding a new one. The sense of home, while tied to places, may also be as abstract as a feeling, relationship or ritual.”
– Fotomoto 22: HOME
The annual compendium of photos is a culmination of diverse personalities and artistic vision. An eclectic congregation of pieces from both established and budding ones. This year, Fotomoto 22 set the center stage for a familiar narrative. In essence the festival became an open home for in turn many more homes slated in far flung places.
The Walkthrough
As I make my first steps in the gallery, I allowed my body to choose its first artwork to behold by chance. A panoramic photograph still but slightly blurry in motion summoned my tears immediately. Suddenly I was the tiny kid in the photo, clutching my mom’s hand, navigating a busy market.
A few steps to the parallel wall I am seated at somebody else’s desk in a tranquil afternoon. With gentle rays of light pouring through. Then, I am hanging fresh laundry on a loose clothes line. In a blink, I am looking at my grandma. Piles of rubbish and ruins underneath my shoes. My home, rebuilt and destroyed. These are just some of the palpable sensations. The frames allowed me to behold these and be many things in an instant.
And the most familiar sensation being a college student, I swam amidst the tides of commuters scrambling to come home. Pieces of sensation and experiences which were showcased in Jilson Tiu’s booth titled, “Going Home.”
Jilson Tiu’s ‘Going Home’
It was through Jilson Tiu that I discovered about the event. The moment I saw his station I remember leaping for joy. I took my time to behold, hear, taste, and feel each meticulously crafted frame. As the sensations were palpable. It was that powerful. Scenes, ebbing and flowing, and frozen at the same time. Which are then thawed the moment one decides to enter the photo as it ushers you in.
The photos emanate the comforting feeling of commuting home in the city. The very feeling we all know. Whether you luckily caught a capacious jeepney or boarded a packed bus, albeit seemingly endless is the traffic jam, it just feels nice to declare or message your loved ones ‘pauwi na ako,’ (I’m heading home) referencing from Tiu’s introduction to his collection. And indeed, makakauwi rin.
His titles are also brillant, with the likes of Urban River (A stream in the roads), Cold Storage (a window perspiring from the AC of a bus).
The neighbouring walls showcased works by Katherine Jack, Veejay Villafranca, Vilen Gabrielyan, Jacob Maentz, Niko Francisco, Anna Rafanan, and Lala Magbuhat among others.
Parola UP Fine Arts Gallery showcased the first leg of Fotomoto 22 from November 19 to December 9, 2022. Whilst its second stint in BenCab Museum in Baguio ran from February 4 to March 26, 2023.
