Erik C. Liongoren - Straight shooting from the man with the Mohawk

By Marge Pamintuan

Like a bright shark’s fin cutting through murky waters, the man with the distinctive mohawk slices through the industry hype, hunting for the heart and soul of his diverse subjects with his lens. From the blood, sweat and tears of the Pinoy band scene, Erik Liongoren’s vision took root in the tattooed reality of rock stars and the guitar-strum rage of Manila’s youth culture. At a very early age, he was no stranger to _expression – he grew up surrounded by surreal seascapes and brilliant colors flowing from the brush strokes of his father, the artist Alfredo Liongoren. His search for his own art form took many years - he took two terms at the College of Saint Benilde, and three semesters at PSID, where he discovered photography while studying interior design. But it was his self-study - without the luxury of teachers and classrooms - that truly developed his craft. He spent many hours sitting with a notepad at local bookstores, researching ways to express himself through this medium, taking down techniques from photography books he could not afford. Through osmosis, trial and error, and painstaking experience – he suddenly found he could translate through this mechanical looking glass – through his lens, he could interpret reality. He could follow what his father told him – and paint…with his camera.

Through his eyes, his vision printed glossy in our hands, we see the light and dark of human experience. We witness the brightness of children’s laughter, the darkness of lonely urban lives, the multicolor movement of celebration, and the stillness of remembrance. Musicians, dreamers, models, socialites, farmers and office workers – we see them all - and sometimes for the first time - in Liongoren’s work. He has traveled far to paint his celluloid canvas – from the neon lights and hyper-tech cities of Japan, Taiwan and Singapore; exotic lushness and sleepy towns in Viet Nam and Sri Lanka, to the deep-seated mysteries of India, Turkey and Egypt; the dusky spirit of Africa…and our own secret splendors here in the Philippines. Liongoren returns with a bounty of pictures, like a hunter coming home.

Liongoren’s work has been published in major magazines throughout the Philippines. He has also done extensive documentary and commercial photography work across the globe for various local and international organizations.