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At Art Fair Philippines, you can get your portrait taken by photographer Raena Abella
Art Fair Philippines opens today at The Link Carpark in Makati.
There are loads of art to see and offerings to enjoy, and at the Sitting Room Studios, you can get your portrait taken by none other than artist photographer Raena Abella.
Raena opted for wet plate collodion, a type of photography process from the early 1800s that produces a mesmerizing ambrotype photograph as the final product.
"I love the feel of it, the ethereal feel of amber types [of photographs]. And I also like the challenge of how these photographs are created," she said.
She coats the portrait with a solution called collodion and processes it in her portable dark room in the area. "Everything should be done in less than 10 minutes," she said.
She also gave a better idea of what the portrait session is like: You'll have to keep still for 20 to 30 seconds. "So if you smile — I don’t think anyone can hold a smile for 30 seconds," she said.
"That’s why in the olden days, if you look at pictures from the books, you know, or the Internet, people back then were not smiling in old photographs because they cannot hold a smile. And if they do smile, it will become blurry so, that’s why you have to look pensive and serious when you’re posing for an amber type or wet plate collodion," Abella continued.
She advises interested subjects "to go to a place where they’re relaxed" so they can hold the pose for 30 seconds. This way, she said, subjects of the portrait won't look angry.
For the portrait session, Abella commits to do one take. But "if I’m not happy, I will do a second, but you only get to bring home one," she said.
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She recommends solo portraits only and not family or bakada photos, although if you're liking the looks of this, you can try to go with your loved ones as a fun weekend activity.
The portrait, which come with a black frame, is P30,000 each. "This will last until forever — unless you break it. It will last longer than you and I," Abella said.
If you prefer just looking at photographs, Abella also has an exhibit with Neil Oshima right next to the portrait session area. Called "Early Light," the exhibit shows the photographers' images taken using the ancient and intricate photographic processes, ambrotype and platinum/palladium print, the latter of which may use platinum to produce an artistic cool or warm tone image.
"Photos are another arm of art. It’s something that you keep forever and me as an artist, it’s sharing a piece of myself also with the viewers — whether or not they understand my work or not, they like it or not, my thing is just — I really just want to share and show my art," Abella said.
Sitting Room Studios is booth 5 at Level 7.
Art Fair Philippines runs until Sunday, February 19.
— LA, GMA Integrated News
