Artsy Shark presents artist and photographer Michael Vincent Manalo. He writes his biography and answers questions about his fascinating projects and inspirations. Please visit his website to see more of his work.
I was born in Manila, Philippines in December 15, 1986 to Benedicto Manalo and Maria Ruth Enriquez. My parents, who both have different blood lines (my father being half American and my mother having her roots from Spain) have great talents. My father was a great basketball player during his time and has won many awards, my mom was a great singer who has joined a lot of contests and got popular in her city for quite some time. I got their talents, but never excelled in any of them. I never did play basketball since I suffered from a trauma after being hit in the face with the ball when I was a kid. I did however, formed a band and played at friend’s parties and in a battle of the bands concert at college. I still play at gigs at present – I’m a solo performer and go by the name of Benedicto and I play experimental guitar tapping music inspired by great artists like Erik Mongrain and Andy Mckee.
I didn’t realize that my mind would be captured by the magic of art because I thought I would be focusing on music my whole life. Art is was one of my favorite hobbies when I was younger; I used to illustrate and doodle a lot when I was in grade school and high school. I used colored pencils even for coloring. I tried using watercolor or pastels but it never worked for me. I got frustrated and that was the time when I started focusing my time on music since I thought art wasn’t my medium of expression.
It suddenly came to me that I liked art more than music when I got my first DSLR – a Canon EOS 300d as a gift from my older brother on my 20th birthday. I started taking my camera everywhere with me and because I had little time (I had to take a 9 to 5 job), most of what I shot were mostly in the street photography genre, that is until one day I tried to manipulate images based on what I think, on what I imagine, on what I feel, on what I dream about and from inspiring images that I see daily.
I created images every night after work back then. I played a lot with Photoshop and studied some tutorials on the web until I found my style.
Its funny because the degree I took in college is a Medical degree, more specifically a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. I took it due to pressures from within the family circle. I never liked taking up that course, it was a waste of time if you look at it directly but it wasn’t since I learned a lot about myself and what I really wanted.
I remember one time at college when there was this activity where you had to stick a piece of paper on your back and have some random people write their first impression on you. Some people said I’m cool, some say I’m mysterious, some even said I’m weird but most of the comments I got was – quiet. Yes, I’m a quiet person, until you get to know me better. What those random people wrote on the paper on my back was completely opposite to what my high school friends know about me. To my high school friends, I was a person who made the class laugh a lot and do some crazy things to get attention and sometimes do some pranks to random people.
What are your goals?
For living on this earth for 23 years, the most common goal I had since my mind was not yet fully developed until now, was the dream to be the one who would inspire. I’ve always dreamed of inspiring people to create amazing things, or pieces from their dreams to the mediums they are familiar with.
I also aspire to be included in the ranks of the masters in this huge field we call art.
What are you working on now?
At the moment, I am currently working on a personal photography project entitled: “365 days – A collection of everyday photographs from inside the bedroom to the world.”
What inspires you?
Inspiration for me comes from a lot of different sources. It may start from hauntingly vivid dreams, to nostalgic memories, to wild emotions, to painful moments, to melancholic days, to the untapped and unknown windows inside my soul, to the stillness and quietness of a place to mere words from thy lips. A lot of images come to my mind everyday from a lot of sources, I just have to catch them all and create them as I saw them.
[…] What inspires you? Inspiration for me comes from a lot of different sources. It may start from hauntingly vivid dreams, to nostalgic memories, to wild emotions, to painful moments, to melancholic days, to the untapped and unknown windows inside my soul, to the stillness and quietness of a place to mere words from thy lips. A lot of images come to my mind everyday from a lot of sources, I just have to catch them all and create them as I saw them. SOURCE […]