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Mananagatby Charles Dee My original portfolio was supposed to be about Filipino workers who have traditional jobs. The photos in the portfolio should have included images of farmers, fishermen, jeepney drivers, sewers, newspaper vendors, bus drivers etc. But in the process of thinking where I should shoot, I realized that it would be really hard. So, I decided to go with what I thought would have registered the best on photographs, the farmers and the fishermen. I planned my shoot; the first weekend would be dedicated in shooting the fishermen and the second weekend would be in shooting farmers.
 I woke up early that day so I could internalize the shots that I
wanted. Honestly, I did not know where to go that day; I just asked my sister
to drive me. We ended up shooting in the coastal area of, I think,
Paranaque. We were scouting for a place to park because it was mostly a
highway beside a large lake. Then we found a community of fishermen who
were when I asked them, very happy to let me shoot there. I walked in the
compound, people staring at me because I was holding a camera and a
tripod.
 Then it struck me. The smell was foul; it smelled like rotten fish
mixed with rotten garbage. When I positioned myself to a spot that I
thought would best capture the shots I wanted. Unfortunately, it was close to
a bunch of garbage floating in the shore. I really did not breathe
normally. The smell was aching, it was making me ill.
 In addition to that, since it was about 12 noon, the sun was shining so
brightly and strongly. My sweat was pouring like it was raining in my
forehead. Since you have to close one eye so that you would be able to
see through the lens, I closed my right eye. When I opened it, I felt a
painful liquid dropping to my eyes. It was like someone was spraying
vinegar on my eye.
One last misfortune, as I have considered them, were the kids running
around me trying to be captured by the camera. Moreover, while I was
shooting, I was conscious enough to feel that they were so close to me and
staring at me like I was a foreigner. One kid beside even called upon
the returning fishermen to wave at the camera. One even commented that
it was for a newspaper and that tomorrow, when it would supposedly be
published, they would become famous stars.
Well, after all the misfortunes, I was proud to have stayed long enough
in that place to get the shots that I wanted. Plus, the people there
were all very accommodating. After that, we headed to Tagaytay to eat our
lunch. There, I finally breathed joyfully.
While I was processing the film, I wished that the negatives would not
be too dark. When it was finished, I thanked God for the wonderful
outcome. I passed the first challenge. The second challenge was to develop
the photographs which took me a long time and a lot of photo paper. But
it turned out to be great so it was all worth it.
The second weekend came and we were planning to go to Batangas again to
shoot the farmers. Unfortunately, it was raining and I feared that I
was just going to waste my film in a �soaky� and stark venue. I ended up
not shooting and I was very sad because I really expected to shoot and
have great shots there. I remained silent for the whole day thinking of
what could have been if I shot the farmers first.
Now, about the title, �Mananagat� is an Ilonggo term which means people
who live in the sea. Well, the people I shot were not living in the sea
but close enough to be considered like that. The title came to be when
I asked our helper what fishermen in Ilonggo was and he told me that. I
fell in love with the title immediately because it captured the essence
of my portfolio which was a fishing village.
�Mananagat� is my first portfolio. It is actually our final project for
our photography class. It was recognized enough that a major publishing
company bought the rights to reprint it and sell it. It is in its
seventh reprinting as of press time.
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