Digital Image Cafe Photographer Profile
Manny Librodo - Thailand

Manny Librodo has always been an avid people watcher so once he became interested in photography it was only natural that he would desire to capture the expressions and emotions of the individuals he found so captivating.

Born in the small town of Lambunao in the Philippines as the fourth of six children, Manny's home had no electricity in his earliest years, and his trips to bigger cities were few. But, he was very academically inclined and earned the honor of valedictorian of his high school class. His immense talent as a photographer, however, grew slowly. "Initially, my love for photography was confined to just being a spectator of beauty. I like colors and patterns. I like displays of majesty and splendor. I like to experience unique cultures. All of these interests eventually led to travel and photography entered the mix merely as a means to document my journeys. At first I carried a simple point and shoot camera and always wanted to be in the picture myself. After all, how would friends and relatives know that I was there if I didn't appear in the photo? So I posed whenever, wherever and however."

Eventually, Manny grew frustrated with the photos that he brought home from his travels. They weren't framed well and the compositions were boring. So, he made the decision to go from being part of the scene to directing it just 4 short years ago. Since then, his experience has been completely hands on with no formal training. He says his brother is his "manual" as he doesn't like reading camera instruction guides. He looks for inspiration from pictures that he likes and then he experiments. "I can go crazy when I shoot a very interesting subject," he says, "Maybe 200 shots in one sitting."

Steve McCurry tops Manny's list of photographic influences (along with his brother), and he uses a Nikon D200 camera. He is most inspired by portrait photography as he feels that "portrait is a landscape of emotions...there is so much to explore in the human face." And he says that he can spot faces with character in a room full of people. "Be it on the streets of Nepal, in a Balinese classroom, on a beach in the Philippines, or at a temple in Thailand, I am drawn to faces that have stories to tell," says Manny.

Currently, Manny teaches Psychology and History at Ruamrudee International School in Bangkok, Thailand. He is single and is also passionate about badminton, having coached his school's varsity team for the past 5 years. His work had been shown in Digital Photography UK, What Digital Camera, and other local and regional publications. He is looking for someone to act as his agent because his day job doesn't allow for enough time to market his work, and his ultimate goal is to have his own coffee table book.

"A picture is worth a thousand words. A lyrical picture does not just tell us a story of a thousand words. Rather it tells us a thousand stories of a million words. It sings a song that speaks straight to our hearts," concludes Manny.