Ace fashion photographer Mark Nicdao, a self-confessed introvert with stage fright to boot, lets his growing portfolio do all the talking.
Last March 11 saw the unveiling of Mark's latest collection of photographs featuring various personalities, mostly in the field of entertainment. The event, simply titled Alive, featured Sarah Geronimo, Richard Gomez, Enchong Dee, Jake Cuenca, Jericho Rosales, Phoemela Baranda, Carlene Aguilar, Luke Jickain, KC Concepcion, Solenn Heusaff, Tessa Valdes, Divine Lee, CamSur Governor LRay Villafuerte and Regine Velasquez—all captured in black-and-white images.
Amazingly, even without conventional color photography, the pictures emit a vibrant aesthetic appeal, which was Mark's objective in the first place. According to the renowned photographer, the inspiration to come up with black and white as concept occurred to him several times in the past though the drive to really put it into practice intensified just recently.
The series of 7" x 8" portraits were publicly displayed at Greenbelt 5 in Makati City, complete with short anecdotes to describe the respective subjects. Helping Mark in mounting his exhibit was Viva mineral water, an apt ally considering the important role played by water in the photos and overall theme of the exhibit.
Personalities spotted by PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) include Richard Gomez with wife, Lucy Torres and daughter, Julianna, fashion designer Rajo Laurel, model Borgy Manotoc, singer-actress Jessa Zaragoza together with husband Dingdong Avanzado, social butterfly Tessa Prieto-Valdez, Enchong Dee, Carlene Aguilar, former model-host Cindy Kurleto, and Sheryl Cruz, among others.