Beyond Lenses: Manny Librodo's 'A Landscape of Emotions' at Amigo Mall opens on July 15
Manny Librodo.
Photography is not just simply taking pictures. Any person can grab a camera and take a picture, but it takes a photographer with the right equipment and the right elements to capture an image that will always be remembered.
One photographer that people recognize as a world-class portrait and travel photographer is Manuel “Manny” Libres Librodo Jr. of Lambunao, Iloilo.
Seeing photography as a distinctive medium of individual expression, Manny spent his six-year career promoting photography as art form, comparable to painting and sculpture. He followed new developments in expressing his passion for photography. He won First Place in the Digital Camera Magazine - Photographer of the Year, 2008; First Place in the Spider Awards in Black White - People Category in 2006; a Finalist in the Travel Photographer of the Year 2008 participated by renowned international travel photographers; two Grand Prize Winner: www.betterphoto.com monthly competitions participated by over 200,000 photographers worldwide and Second Most Popular Photographer: www.dpchallenge.com from among a poll of over 3,000 photographers worldwide.
His photos landed on the covers of various magazines like NEED Magazine in the US, Portrait Photography Magazine in Ukraine, Red Lantern Magazine in New York, Dance Festival memorabilia and posters in Poland, Mabuhay Magazine, Digital Photographer Magazine in the Philippines and UNICEF’s Wall Calendar for 2009.
His expertise is sought-after, having done countless portraitures and conducted travel workshops in countries like the Netherlands, United States, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Australia in a span of three years. With 18 million followings, his online gallery (http://www.pbase.com/manny_librodo) is one of the top 5 most visited galleries at www.pbase.com that promotes and encourages the art world to recognize the artistic value of photography. In addition to his body of work, his enduring legacy was his effort to have photography accepted as a true art form.
Even though he is based in Thailand as a fulltime high school teacher in an international school, photography enthusiasts from different countries would travel to meet him for a one-on-one workshop, which he conducts every weekend. He teaches full time during weekdays. Nationals of Egypt, Dubai, Nicaragua, US, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Croatia, Romania, India, Italy, Poland were some of his participants.
Anyone who would see his photographs would say that his works are composed as if they are paintings. His images are intermingled with beauty and emotions that tell a story without the need for words. His photographs of people and lifestyle are regarded as wonderful and amazing. His eye for catching the beauty, as well as its mastery, made him an artist.
For this reason, his works has rooted itself so deeply in the minds and hearts of his millions of supporters all over the world and have come to realize how powerful photography is: in telling stories, advertising, recording history, and communicating visual ideas. It does not only document human experience, but also helps us understand more about ourselves and our existence in this world.
Manny will be showing his works in an exhibit entitled “A Landscape of Emotions” at the Event Center of Amigo Mall on July 11 to 17, 2009. The artist par excellence will also be selling his works where proceeds will go to the “Mga Kaibigan Ng Mga Kabataang May Kanser (KKK). The event is organized by TMX for Amigo Plaza Mall.