MANILA, Philippines – George Tapan is wearing a faded polo with tiny tropical islands floating on the blue fabric. His skin is tanned, his flip-flops sandy, and his watch is strapped to his wrist with a rattan woven band.And he has gone to a lot of places. Every region in the Philippines has been the subject of his camera. He has captured images all over South East Asia, China and Europe.
George was not always a travel photographer. He tells me that he started out as a photographer for movie posters, shooting stills for 60s movies likeAfter being Erap’s campaign photographer when he ran for San Juan mayor, George shot for advertising, sports and fashion until he found travel photography at the age of 24. He recalls that his first ever assignment was Isla Verde, an island between Batangas and Puerto Galera.
In all my pictures—even landscape photos—I put people. That’s where you see the relationship between the photographer and the place. There should be people.Don’t make your photos artificially beautiful using post-editing. Stick to what’s real. Don’t add colors that aren’t there because that’s not what the eyes see.