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Quiapo-More Than Just a Marketby Arol Cuevas For as long as I could remember, I�ve always loved taking pictures and of course, getting my pictures taken. When I was a kid, photographs to me were merely recordings of events. I was even shocked to find out that people actually considered taking pictures a profession. I mean, how hard could clicking the shutter be? It hardly requires any effort. But as I grew, I came to see that photography is an art.
 I�ve only been to Quiapo once; this was the time when I insisted my parents to come with me so I could buy film and photo papers for my photography class. Just a few weeks ago, I had to go to Quiapo for more papers and film. And lucky me, my parents couldn�t drive me to Quiapo. Even my friends couldn�t come with me because they were all busy. Another reason why I had to go to Quiapo was so I could shoot. My portfolio was supposedly about artists. I wanted to capture portraits of different artists, may they be artists who do it for a living or artists who do it for fun; regardless of their age. But because it was hard to take pictures of artist performing, I changed my concept.
 My stay in Quiapo changed my mind. The 3 hours I spent there made me see a lot of things. Quiapo is often times compared to Divisoria, which is yet another place for me to discover. People have been telling me that Quiapo is just another one of those markets where you could buy lots of pirated and cheap goods. It�s probably �heaven� for those who are on a tight budget. As I was roaming around the district, I saw lots of people-rich and poor. Aside from this, I also got to see people who practically live in Quiapo. I saw people sleeping, eating, playing, praying and working. There were even manikuristas, faith healers and fortune tellers! It�s interesting how the people there have made Quiapo almost their homes. The pictures I took were mostly of people doing things that are usually done at home. One shot I really like was of a woman plucking the gray hair strands of her husband.
The Quiapo culture is definitely something I should know more about. Who knows, after this photo portfolio, I might make a documentary about it.
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