Photographer of the Week: Mark Fitz Castro Borre
By Maan D’Asis Pamaran
Ever in search of the perfect landscape shot, Mark Fitz Castro Borre tells of having to endure hardships on his trips. He recounts mishaps on a solo trip to Japan back in 2018, as his most memorable photography experience.
“Those nine days were a mix of both good and bad situations. I got lost in some places, missed buses, hiked on steep muddy trails while having an injured foot, trekked in the dark on freezing temperatures then being greeted by mist and morning frost once I got to my shooting location, and other mini adventures that added up to the experience,” Fitz shares.
He doesn’t mind, though, as he feels that those incidents made the trip more interesting and those keep him motivated through his shoots.
A small alpine town in Switzerland 
Midday Calm at Lake Bled
It was an opportunity to travel for work that got him interested in the art. Fitz, an IT professional, was sent to Denmark by his employer. “While there, I tried to capture the beauty of the scenery so I could share it with my family and friends. I was only using a cell phone at that time, and without any background knowledge on photography, of course, I failed to achieve my objective. I was not able to give justice to all the wonderful sights that I experienced.”
Challenged by this failure, he made sure that on his next trip to the European country, he was prepared with a Nikon D5300 and a rudimentary knowledge of composition and proper exposure. His first foray proved to be exciting, and he has not stopped work on improving his craft up to this day.
Although he does not want to limit his work to a single type of photography, fine art landscape photography has been his default genre for different reasons. “One of them is my love for the outdoors. It takes me to interesting places and promotes a more active lifestyle. Combining it with my love for the art has helped me become very attentive to details and connected with my gears in terms of technicalities. I became adaptive to conditions presented by that certain place that I am shooting. It has led me to see the world in new ways and is constantly challenging my creative side.”
Hotaka Mountain Range 
Julian Alps at dusk
Gate leading to a mountain shrine 
The right place at the right time
He has started to delve into black-and-white photos for his scenery, drawn by the works of Japanese photographers. “It’s a very slow, contemplated, methodical process; I am genuinely enjoying the flow. Traveling with my camera helps me to be at peace. Although it often requires a lot of physical activities, photography to me is like a therapeutic meditation.”
Fitz has participated in a photo exhibit with other landscape photographers, and has won nods for his work, winning first and second prize on Nature/Landscape categories during the 2018 Filipino International Photography Awards (IPA), honorable mention for his Lost in Japan series in the 2018 Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA), and a bronze award in the 2019 Epson International Pano Awards.
Bled Castle. Slovenia 
Mulanay, Quezon
His goal is to get more than a passing Instagram like, he says, as they are not just technical captures but interpretations of his visions. “It’s being able to produce an output of the things that I see in my mind’s eye – to let other people see what I see beyond what is presented in front of me. It lets me express visions that are oftentimes hard to interpret in words. Your photograph does not have to be very poetic or very complicated. I just want to produce something that can be carved on people’s minds.”
Ampere Beach 
Photographer of the Week:
Mark Fitz Borre