Tuesday, September 16, 2008

celebrity clicks

The great thing about being in Cambodia is being able to meet great personalities that not in my wildest dreams would even think of rubbing shoulders with - how much more having a chance to take their photos!

These are a compilation of recent portraits and photography work I've done with for the past couple of months...


I was official photographer for Ricky Martin's outreach visit in support for kids around the world through his Ricky Martin Foundation - the Cambodian leg, that is... He is just genuinely a very noble person! The only funny thing was people started asking for his autographs... on pirated cd's!


I did a photo shoot with Philippine Senator Loren Legarda on location at the 15th century temple Wat Attwiya... her top is by Ilonggo designer Jaki Penalosa and neckpiece by Don Protasio (http://www.fuchsiaboy.blogspot.com/)

with Wat Attwiya monks... top is by Romyda Keth for Khmer Attitude

I asked Senator Legarda to "embroider" the flag ala Teodora Agoncillo... this shoot turned out to be really fun! My friend Don Protasio helped out with the styling.


HRH King Mizan Zainal Abidin of Malaysia at Sofitel's greens. For a king of one of Asia's wealthiest states, was very casual, approachable and low key.

Celestina designer Tina Ocampo has conquered the pages of Vogue with her ingenious designs of exquisite accessories... I took this photo of her at the poolside of Raffles Grand Hotel... filled to the brim with glowing candles as she requested for an event.

The most powerful man in Cambodia - Prime Minister Hun Sen prepares for a swing of golf at the Sofitel Phokeetra Angkor Golf Resort at the opening of the Johnnie Walker Classic Tournament

We had a great opportunity to have christmas lunch with New York designer Rafe Totengco on his visit to Siem Reap. I took this portrait of him at Hotel de la Paix when he was sketching his latest shoe designs for the 2008 season...

President Ruth Dreifuss is Switzerland's first female president. I had a chance to photograph her when I was official photographer of Raffles Grand Hotel of her official visit to Cambodia


I have never seen an army and security of that immensity prepare for an official visit than HRH Thai Princess Maha Chakry Sarinthorn.

Some of the reasons why moving to Cambodia from Manila wasn't a bad idea after all!

26 comments:

pusangkalye said...

I didn't recognize Ricky Martin in the 1st picture. I guess it has been sometimes since I last saw his pictures. Loren is still classy and elegant.....and the hotel glowing with candles is just amazing. She really requested for it just for the event? I wonder how many candles were used.

lucas said...

gosh... bigatin ka na talaga for working with such social giants! and as i have always said...

BRILLIANT!

i love the styling in loren's pics. just flawless... and i love the emotion in Martin's photo... you really captured the emotion!

kudos man! :)

The Dork One said...

whoa!!!!

i love your job!!!

Anonymous said...

true. that shot with all those floating candles was pretty amazing. :)

and the autograph signing on pirated cd's... hilarious. :D

beautiful shots these. :)

the spool artist said...

@salingpusa: yup, she REALLY did request it for the event. It was a big pool so on top of my head, I would say around a thousand or two thousand candles...

@roneiluke: thanks ron, it was hard being starstruck and having to hide it!

@leviuqse: thanks! i'm having a blast with my work as well...

@kouji: thanks... even your comments sound poetic and haiku-ish! lol.

Anonymous said...

Everything you do it's just beatiful.

kawadjan said...

nice photos dahling.

si princess maha chakri... mabuti ka pa na-sight mo na cya.

and rafe! oh dear, i'm a big fan of his blog.

the spool artist said...

@carmen: thank you, that really warms the heart!

@kawadjan: yup rafe was amazing to talk to!

princess maha chakri's visit was a tight one to cover... too many rules! also, a lot of the thais who were in cambodia said that they have better chances of seeing her here than in home!

lucas said...

hindi pa ako nakakainom ng Red Horse. and wine??? ang mahal! hahaha! you're right... tolerance for alcohol requires alot of drinking..hehehe!

kelangan talaga sa work mo nainom ka :)

peace out! :)

KRIS JASPER said...

your job is so cool! you're an official, licensed, authorized paparazzo.

Im sure you'll meet more stars and personalities soon..
(lol. joke)

the spool artist said...

@roneiluke: attend ka lang ng mga opening ng art exhibits and all that crap... they give everybody free wine! hehehe...

@kris jasper: cool... an official, authorized papparazzo... that's a good way to put it! let me meet and photograph keira knightley and i can quit my job! lol

jericho said...

so where are ricky martin's pics? if only the beckies have known, they wouldn't have accepted you at V without his photos.. signed and naked. hahaha

the spool artist said...

@jericho: i'll emsil them to you on your next birthday! hehehe

Kiks said...

Akala ko friend mo lang yung kinunan mo ng pic.

si ricky m pala. no wonder Gibo was so raving about it.

but the photos are them nice.

think tina ocampo is a diva?

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, such a brilliant photo-blog you have here. Imagine, an official photographer for a big celebrity like Ricky M.

Thanks for the visit on my blog.

the spool artist said...

@kiks: nope, not in a professional ay...tina was a highly driven, creative person... she asks for the moon and the stars, but the outcome is always amazing.

@k: thanks for visiting as well! cheers!

Anonymous said...

wow, great shots ;p

the spool artist said...

@strawberryfieldsforever: thanks!

@kris jasper: i'm from iloilo and my wife is from bacolod

fuchsiaboy said...

at bakit hindi ako kasama sa set na itoh!? ;)

the boomerang kid said...

luv ko ang photo ni tina maristela

the spool artist said...

don, i think you will have your own spread! hintay ka lang!

@zen bitch: thanks!

Looking For The Source said...

ricky martin's hot in that pic...

just bloghopping!

Jake said...

Dude! Grabe astig ka talaga!

Magkano ba PF mo?

Dream ko magpapa-creative shots with Madame Imelda Marcos for a coffee table book (so you can just imagine kung anong klaseng poses ang gagawin namin) hahaha! :)

the spool artist said...

@looking for the source: thanks for dropping by!

@jake torado: let's do it! if there's anyone i wanna shoot badly na pinoy, it's the iron butterfly herself! don't worry, mura lang ako! lol

escape said...

galing mo pala talaga. do you have a portfolio?

the spool artist said...

hi dong, im working on my own website now!