Jose Marie “Mayie” Delgado has come a long way from being a kid who loved to tinker with his father’s camera. He has in fact become a respected art photographer.

Starting as a kid who loved taking pictures of his friends, he became part of his high school’s yearbook staff. But formal studies, business, family and “life” in general caused him to leave his beloved avocation.

Nevertheless, he said his passion for photography remained latent, so he never abandoned it completely.

Just nine years ago, he decided to once again take up photography seriously and held his first exhibit at the Museum Café in Makati City. The warm response coming from art aficionados inspired him to continue his passion.

Biggest exhibit yet

For his latest exhibit, Delgado will showcase over a hundred of his abstract-impressionist photographs at the Globe Gallery in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), starting March 24. It will be his biggest exhibit yet, he said.

Part of the proceeds will go to the new St. Michael the Archangel Parish Church in BGC.

According to art critic Cid Reyes, Delgado is one of the finest abstract-impressionist photographers in the country. Reyes noted that it was through Delgado’s unorthodox way of seeing how light interacts with everyday subjects that gives him an edge against other lensmen.

‘No rules’ rule

Delgado credited his development and his sense of experimentation to digital photography.

“Since I had no more fear of wasting films and photos could easily be deleted at no cost, I took it as an opportunity to think out of the box and just learn to shoot instinctively,” he explained. He added that the demise of the dark room greatly helped in “fast-tracking” his learning so he could be more focused on photography itself.

Interestingly, Delgado’s works do not bear titles. He said titles provide the viewers with preconceived notions of the works.

“My photos have no titles because everyone is free to interpret them any way they see [them],” he said.

As an unorthodox photographer, Delgado said he follows some principles which may seem foreign to the ordinary lensman: Do not apply the usual techniques for subjects such as still lifes and nature; stop labeling things because such would only limit the potentials of subjects; apply a different rule of composition and framing to set your approach apart from that usually thought of by photographers; and forget treatments on subjects that had been done before.

Applying these tenets, said Delgado, has made his work different.

“While normal photographers would look at something then internalize it, I do my photograph by first internalizing what I want to do, then creating it,” Delgado said. “It is more intuitive, and the process of creating the artwork is more interesting than just shooting what you see, the process itself is an art by itself.”