A Portrait Session With The BIBAK Kids

Filed under : Personal, Portraits by Ben and Kirin on 07-07-2012

BIBAK is a association of Igorot-Filipino-Americans brought together to maintain and further their bonds to their unique cultural heritage while they are away from their homeland. “BIBAK” is an acronym representing 5 of the tribes from the Cordillera region of the Northern Philippines. My beautiful wife, Kirin, is an Igorota from the Bontoc and Kalinga tribes.

The “BIBAK Kids” is what Kirin and I call the youth from BIBAK Youth San Diego, the younger members of BIBAK in our county. They’re also all good friends of ours. Kirin and I have been kicking around an idea in our heads of doing a series of portraits of The Kids both in their native costumes and street clothes. My first love has always been portrait photography. I have always been intrigued by the way a person’s personality could sometimes be distilled in a well shot portrait. And how cool would it be to try to do that with the BIBAK kids as they are in their every-day clothes, and then in clothes similar to what their ancestors wore. Would changing a person’s “outside” have any affect on their “inside”? How much does appearance affect essence? How much is persona a part of personality?

The Great Water Battle of 2011…

Filed under : Personal by Ben and Kirin on 30-06-2011

Tensions were high… Suspicions ran deep. Each side quietly prepared for the conflict they knew they could not avoid…

The look in each combatants face conveyed grim determination…

No side would back down. Buckets were readied, water-guns were filled, the Slip ‘n Slide was slicked. There was no turning back now–there was only… WAAARRRR!

Eventually, as with all storms, this one passed. Peace and joy once again came to the land.

Then we all went inside to enjoy a little “Just Dance 2″ on the Wii.

Roman and the Dancer

Filed under : Personal by Ben and Kirin on 14-10-2010

This is my boy, Roman.

Even at the young age of 2, Roman is a very boyish boy. He loves to watch sports on TV: baseball, football, soccer, even golf. Up until his current obsession with Thomas Train, he didn’t go anywhere without carrying his baseball bat and baseball. He becomes fixated on all kinds of electronic gadgets. And he loves to punch the heavy-bag that hangs in his lolo’s (grandpa’s) back yard. Whenever I try to kiss hm now, he pushes my face away and screams, “No!” I half-expect him to tell me, “Cut out that pansy stuff, Dad! Now be quiet, the game’s on.”

One day I was lying on the floor flipping through photos on my iPod while Roman was on the couch watching Barney. He got off the couch and lay down next to me to see what I was looking at. Then I flipped to this image:

“Ohhh,” said Roman, his eyes fixed to the little screen. “You like her?” I asked. He covered his mouth with his hands and giggled, “Heeheeheehee!” This is a picture that Kirin shot at the recent Miss Philippines California pageant we covered. The little girl is one of the child dancers that performed during intermission. When I tried to flip to another photo, my son started to scream. So I flipped it back. “Ohhh…”

I looked at him with my “aww, my little boy’s growing up!” look. And just when I was about to grab him and smother him with kisses, he jumped on the couch and gave me his “No!” face, leaned back and concentrated on Barney on the TV.