Model Material

Pinoys are naturally vain.  I think.

If you browse a Facebook profile or any other social networking sites that has an option to upload an album, Pinoys would usually have a thousand of photos of themselves or their beloved in different poses and in different outfits.   And if their camera has 365 photos of an event, those 365 photos get uploaded even if some of them are just accidental shots of the ceiling or their mole.  I do know someone who has a penchant of taking a photograph of his head.  It would have been nice if he had a nice set of hair, however, his “crowning glory” is very scant.  So you can see the scalp under the hair, which is shined over by a smudged hair gel.  It looked gross.  It’s not even accidental because he has at least five photos of his mop.  I cringe just by looking at them. 

When my girlfriends would go out and meet on a special place or be seen in an event, they make sure they are well dressed and  well-kept because the first thing that would pop in their mind is to take photos that will be uploaded in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or whatever.  The phrase “pang-Friendster” was eventually coined which later turned into “pang-Facebook” or “pang-profile picture” because of this phenomenon.  Believe me, this culture has become so common among us, even I have fallen prey into.  I take pictures for the WWW. 

If I would look into the photos of my non-Pinoy friends and colleagues, what they would usually have is a boring photo of their cat.  Or the the logo of the football team they are rooting for.  Sometimes, they do not even bother changing their profile picture at all.  Stays the same for thousands of years, unlike me who change it every few seconds or so.    One of my social networking contacts even fished for “likes” so that he can post his six pack abs.  The condition was if he gets 50 likes, he would post a photo of his washboards.  Unfortunately, he got only 4 likes in a span of two weeks.  So he deleted the post, I guess no one was interested.  I felt sorry for him, but oh well, he might have gotten over with it since he posts his topless  torso most of the time anyway. 

Usually, when we take a photo, we want to show off.  Like the one I mentioned above.  “I’ve been to this place, I’ve eaten in this restaurant (with a picture of the food), I’m with so and so.  I am so amazing.  I look extremely gorgeous.”  It has started becoming a syndrome of self-obsession and self gratification.  It sounds naughty and bad but I guess that’s the consequence of having a smart phone.  The phone becomes so smart, we start becoming stupid. 

There came a point whence the Multiply blog site has been populated by wannabe models and fashion photographers, that by just paying this certain amount of pesos, you get dolled up, pose under a make shift spotlight with wind effect to boot, and you get a photo of yourself to upload in your blog.  You don’t even get a proof of the photo.  It’s like Jessica Simpson’s brain.  You know it’s there but you don’t see it.  I’m raising my hand here because I was guilty at one point.  I hate myself when I look at these photos.  Although in my own personal and humble opinion, it did not turn out that bad, it still looked forced.  When everybody else is doing it, it’s not so special anymore.  I think that’s thing about vanity.  We want to stand out.  We want to be different from the rest.  But in the end, we end up just becoming one with everybody, dolled up vain, and simple.  Thank goodness that this trend has stopped because it has started becoming cheap and crooked.  But the model mentality probably doesn’t stop there.

Take a look how the Filipino wedding has evolved. 

It takes more hours to beautify the bride than to make her vows.  Even worse, it takes even forever to get a perfect shot to be able to capture a moment.  If film rolls are still the in thing today, we could have filled up the Lamesa dam just by the wedding photos alone.  My brother is getting married this December.  I hope they tone down the photo op thing during the event.  In the first place, they are getting married, they are not making a music video or doing a photo shoot for a magazine.  I can now understand why our parish priest fumes at intrusive photographers during the ceremony, its unholy and it kills the romance and drama of the event.   Although in photos it looks romantic, in real life its anti-climactic.

I know that photos freeze a moment and capture it forever, but sometimes, we should not just take pictures to create the memory.  We have to actually feel it to remember it.  Lately, I’ve learned to put down my camera and phone, and just enjoy what I actually see and feel the rush of the moment.  To feel the company of a friend, and to actually enjoy the food that I eat and not just stare at them.  That’s what is living is all about.

 However, forgive me, but when a good view presents itself, I still feel the urge to grab my camera and get myself a snapshot.  Well, I’m still a human with a Facebook account.  

photo from:  hadideeb.com