By: Ani Ignacio My mother was the one who influenced my love of photography. She had taken endless pictures of me, my brother, and our family. To this day, we are still blessed to have her collection of photo albums. There were times when she hired photographers for our family events. Images were taken as souvenirs. A diary of our life. In 1998, when I migrated from Manila to Sydney, she handed me all of the photo albums. I asked her why she was giving all the albums to me. She answered, “Para sa iyo yan anak” (“I made them for you. It belongs to you”). I really enjoyed accepting the pictures and flipping through them. I received my own first camera when I turned 18. It was a Canon AE-1 Single-Lens Reflex (SLR). It was also a gift from my father. Having learned how to use the camera, I then became the official photographer of our family events. I practiced at relatives’ weddings, baptisms, taking portraits, any occasion. It was an expensive “hobby” my father used to say. He was referring to the rolls of film, processing, and printing. That said, my parents shouldered all the expenses. These images are very dear to our family. As a result, my dad supported and financed more photography accessories: tripods, filters, Canon flashes, zoom lenses, film, and more. It was very costly. The camera became a fixed companion of mine. Most times I could not afford to get the films developed, however. I would work in our family business and when I got paid, I would get the films processed and get them printed as contact prints – that way I could just choose which ones I wanted printed. When my son was born, he became the...... Read more on Full Issue!