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Pinoy photographer Nico Sepe opens exhibit in Bangkok

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Claro Cortes IV

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Nico Sepe with Than Phu Ying Sirikitiya Jensen, a member of the Thai royal family and granddaughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. Claro Cortes IV" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/03/16/nico-sepe-with-than-phu-ying-sirikitiya-jensen.jpg"/><figcaption>Nico Sepe with Than Phu Ying Sirikitiya Jensen, a member of the Thai royal family and granddaughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. <em>Claro Cortes IV</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>BANGKOK -- Bangkok-based Filipino photographer Nico Sepe opened his photo exhibit &quot;Co-Labs&quot; on Tuesday, March 15, at the Bangkok Art &amp; Culture Center (BACC). </p><p>&quot;Co-Labs&quot; here means the collaboration of the artist with 10 other artist of different mediums. Sepe used the wet-collodion process in photographing his subjects, a very early type of photography using glass for negatives which had its roots in the 19th century. The subjects-artists are persons with special needs who have found the ability to express themselves in their different medium. </p><p>“Beauty, pure without vanity!” is how Sepe described his exhibition using the wet plate process, also known as ambrotype.</p><p>Sepe began his photography journey in the late &#x27;70s, documenting lives in the underground movement and the fall of the Marcos dictatorship. He worked mostly on commissioned assignments by non-government organizations and even self-funded some of his documentary projects. He had several collective exhibitions and one-man shows in the Philippines and the United Kingdom before settling in Bangkok where he is practicing and teaching wet-plate collodion process. </p><p>Sepe started the &quot;Co-Labs&quot; project last year as part of the “Language of the Soul” ongoing series of exhibitions in BACC to highlight efforts and talents of artists with Down syndrome. </p><p>It also aims to expand the new perspective about art and to encourage families to see possibilities and to help develop people with special need to their full potential. This series is a part of the whole concept entitled “Co-Labs: Collaboration.” </p><p>Collaborating with 10 artists with special needs was a challenging endeavor made complicated by the lockdown and COVID-19 surges that transpired during its planning stage. But when Sepe found an opening in October last year, he immediately coordinated with the Rainbow Room Foundation and BACC to resume the project. </p><div class="media-content"><div class="slider-for"><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/03/17/nico-sepe-1-3172022.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/03/17/nico-sepe-2-3172022.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/03/17/nico-sepe-3-3172022.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/03/17/nico-sepe-4-3172022.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/03/17/nico-sepe-5-3172022.jpg"/></div></div><div class="slider-desc"><div class="item-desc"><p>Nico Sepe gives a speech during the opening of the show. <cite>Claro Cortes IV</cite></p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Nico Sepe (2nd left) with special guest Than Phu Ying Sirikitiya Jensen (2nd right), a member of the Thai Royal Family and granddaughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. <cite> Claro Cortes IV</cite></p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Nico Sepe with his “collaborators.” <cite> Claro Cortes IV</cite></p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Nico Sepe with one of his subject-artists, Catleeya Asavanant, during the opening. <cite>Claro Cortes IV</cite></p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Peerach Panayothakul, one of the subject-artists, is interviewed by a TV crew during the opening. <cite> Claro Cortes IV</cite></p></div></div></div><p>The first plate was done in October 2021 and he finished the last one in February 2022. </p><p>Collaboration is the act of working with another person or group of people to create or produce something or simply put as “an act of working together to co-create.” It was a difficult undertaking considering the personalities and eccentricities of each artists involved. Not to mention the meticulous and unpredictability of this photographic process. Just like the medium used which is a glass, it is as delicate and fragile. But as what the exhibit poster described, “when the mechanical and the human factors harmonize, the results are magic.”</p><p>Everyone featured in this exhibition is an artist, from weavers to painters, sculptors to musicians. However, collaborating with a photographer in a process unfamiliar to them is something most of them have never experienced before. Being asked to sit and be steady for a period of 10 seconds, in bright lights, is all new, and can bring uncertain and unpredictable emotional reactions if not executed well. It becomes apparent that to capture a still portrait of a model that constantly moves, using a method infamous for needing patience and stillness is a challenge, and overcoming it -- an artistic feat.</p><p>Sepe showed this feat and collaborated with painter Catleeya Asavanant, weaver Krailas Skuldist, miniature sculptor Pakchanya U-Pratya, poetry reader Petchlapa Chevamongkol, sculptors Yaipoeng &amp; Naipran, “kor krachao” (a round neck traditional-style tops) maker Peerach Panayothakul, “khim” musician Chanita Thamthatpimol, eurithmy (expressive movement art) performers Korakot and Tanayu Teerasawad, saxophone player Jittipat Thongprasert, and painter Pasin Singhasaneh.</p><p>The exhibit was graced and officially opened by Than Phu Ying Sirikitiya Jensen, a member of the Thai royal family, a granddaughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and a niece of King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand. The exhibit will run until April 24 at BACC.</p><p>In the artist’s inspirational speech, he stated: “We choose this medium because it has historical relevance. This wet plate collodion became popular in mid 19th century (1850s) and 20 years after came the discovery of Down syndrome by English physician John Langdon Down and they made use of wet plate to record the people or patients they were handling.&quot;</p><p>Sepe emphasized that the exhibit “just wants to raise the awareness and recognition of people with special needs. This is a kind of tribute to them.” </p><p>He added that “this is not just art for art‘s sake, but this is more to raise awareness and to give importance to people who has this condition. This project is dedicated to my nephew Emilio Sepe who also has Down syndrome.” </p><p>There is no better word to end his speech with this line, “This is beauty without vanity.”</p>

Bangkok-based Filipino photographer Nico Sepe opened his photo exhibit 'Co-Labs' on Tuesday, March 15, at the Bangkok Art & Culture Center.