by: KEAN Inc.
Pitik 2022, the Asian Center for Journalism’s (ACFJ) 19th annual forum on photojournalism, will bring together photography, cycling, and climate change through conversations led by cyclists and environmental advocates Jilson Tiu and Aileen Camille (AC) Dimatatac on Friday, December 2, at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Jilson Tiu is a professional photographer based in Manila whose work primarily features urban streets teeming with life and culture, brightly-lit and expressing a warmth captured uniquely by someone with deep connections to the city and the people.
In an interview with Neocha in 2019, Tiu expresses how much life there was in Manila, and how photos can and need to capture both the good and the bad sides.
“It’s a place where both the positives and negatives of life intertwine, and I want to bring it all out through my photography.”
More of Tiu’s photography features the environment, from lush greenery, the loss of life after the Taal eruption, to the effects of plastic pollution. As a freelance photojournalist, he’s worked with various publications and organizations like Esquire, CNN, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Greenpeace.
To Multisport.ph he said that as a cyclist, he has gained a new perspective about being able to capture photos from the seat of a bike, compared to if he was in a car or train. Cycling allowed him to be mobile, to see the possibilities as well as encounter the hindrances for safe and sustainable transport in the city.
AC Dimatatac graduated from the Diploma in Photojournalism program offered by ACFJ in 2011. She is a photojournalist and sustainability advocate currently affiliated with the Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC). ICSC is a Philippine-based, international non-government group advancing fair climate policy and low carbon, climate-resilient development.
Dimatatac’s photography centers on social issues and current events, from sustainable energy to the necessity of climate justice to go hand-in-hand with diversity and inclusion. Her work puts people and protest front and center in an effort to highlight the numerous, diverse movements towards justice on all fronts.
In Dimatatac’s portfolio one may find an interesting piece about energy and sustainability done with ICSC, where she tells the story of the residents of the island-barangay of Sulu-an and their lack of access to electricity. Humanitarian groups have since then helped them harness solar technology and utilize it for themselves.
The photoset captures the life of the Sulu-ans and the change in lifestyle and livelihood that light and renewable energy can bring.
Tiu’s and Dimatatac’s bodies of work encapsulate their desire and ability to tell stories through photography, both the beautiful and the brutal. In their practice, the realities of Philippine life, culture, and environment are captured and immortalized through images that can evoke thought, feeling, and bring about change through visual storytelling.
Learn from and with these experts at Pitik 2022, which will be held on December 2 at the Case Study Room of the Social Sciences Building at the Ateneo de Manila University.
The event will also showcase the works of ACFJ’s current batch of students from the Diploma for Visual Journalism program, Monika Deupala, Geela Maryse Garcia, Chris Trinh, and Sonam Lama.
Feel free to bring your bike, see things in a different light, and join the conversation!
Register here: https://bit.ly/Pitik2022Reg
KEAN Inc. is the name of a group of Ateneo de Manila students taking Comm-25 (Communication Management and Entrepreneurship-N1). KEAN Inc. is composed of Inigo Jose Cid, Kimiko Gabrielle R. de Guzman, Alexandra Dominique B. Glorioso , Anne Marie Jennifer R. Jara, Enrique Miguel L. Uy who helped ACFJ with publicity materials related to Pitik x Padyak.
