Photographer of the Week: Sherwin Sapong

By Maan D’Asis Pamaran

As he was growing up in his idyllic hometown, Sherwin Sapong was proud of his father’s work. The late Nilo Sapong was a journalist who contributed to local newspapers such as Bohol Sunday Post and Bohol Daily News, and whose photographs were also published in a national daily.

“I got to see his work and he taught me about photography, but I never clicked a camera until my 20s when my father gave me a film camera.” His initial venture into photography didn’t last long, however, as he sheepishly recalls an accident when the camera fell underwater. “It was in my late 30s when I started again, because my brother gifted me with a DSLR and I fell in love with it. This made me determined to pursue photography seriously, as my goal was to also contribute to local and national newspapers.”

He focused on photojournalism and environmental portraiture, and has also developed an interest in landscape and astrophotography. “My favorite subjects are elders and children. For the older people, I get to learn their life stories. Children are a challenge to shoot but I love the innocence, for they do not complain on how they look in the camera. My goal is to convey emotion even through the stillness of the camera.”

Sherwin, who has shifted from film to the digital medium, says, “I want my pictures to be dramatic, separating it from the normal. Normally people are involved in the pictures, depicting real life scenarios.”

He has been very active in the local photography scene, organizing the Saulog and Sandugo Photo Contests which his father founded. He is also the president of the Photographer’s Guild of Bohol, committee chair on photography for the City Council for Culture and Arts, and committee chair on photography for Bohol Arts, Culture and Heritage Council.

Among the contests he has joined included the Sandugo photo contest in 2010 for which he won 4^th and 9^th place and the Photographer’s Club of Cebu Contest in 2012 for which he won  2^nd place in the Prayer Category. He was also a Scott Kelby Local Walk winner, contending for the national contest. 

His ultimate goal, however, was to make his father proud. The older Sapong passed away last year at the age of 71, but he has witnessed his son’s accomplishments in the field. “My father was not outspoken, but he was proud of how I followed his path on photojournalism. He didn’t expect me to follow him since growing up, I took up music. He shed some tears as I joined a photo exhibit and held it on his birthday. I wanted to be like him and have a picture in a national newspaper.”

Now, he wants to pass on this legacy in photography by educating young visual artists. “Photography is an expression of one’s self to inspire and be an inspiration, to tell a story, to document and educate as to leave something for the next generations to come. For the younger generation, the first lesson I want to teach is that to be a lensman is to have respect for the people you encounter.”