Fishing Cycle
The Metropolitan Chronicles 2010

Quest for Timeless Photographs

Few days ago, I’ve been reading about images being ‘timeless’.  Many regard timeless as being from such period when the photograph was taken, then made its way to this ‘changing world’.  I read somewhere that someone has commented on a photo wherein the place looked so much like those places from the history books, but the subject is wearing modern fashion which in turn made the him out of place, or maybe he would’ve been a good subject after all if he was in a much modern place.  Fact is, the world is relentlessly changing, everything change, and photographs witness and record this rapid change.  But you can’t go back to the past to capture timeless moment and yet everything around us is already a story to tell, a timeless masterpiece taking place.

So what exactly makes a photo timeless… it’s not the place nor the way the subjects are dressed, though true enough, the photograph becomes more interesting and appealing if the subject and the place are both in character.   But if you’re in a place where traditional costumes are no longer worn at all times —- such as the Philippines, then it doesn’t mean you cannot take timeless images anymore.  Timeless images are images with timeless stories told in it. And it is created the moment you intensely understand your subject, then passionately compose and capture the story in your frame; it doesn’t really matter which era you’re from.  It doesn’t even matter what clothes your subjects are wearing, and the place doesn’t matter at all.  Although I must add, it’s not you who can tell instantly that you just shot a timeless image.  It’s not you who can decide that your photograph is timeless.  It is those who’ve seen the image, absorbed the relevance of the story you’ve captured, and will remember it despite of the changing world, simply because it inspires them.  Then that’s timeless.