Hometown Living At Its Best 17
began to notice and appreciate the unusually high level of
passion and commitment from the many people he got to
know and with whom he worked. “It was incredible to have
met people who absolutely loved what they were doing,”
said Dominique. “I understood it was quite natural for
people to always complain about how much they hate their
jobs, but these photographers, these makeup artists, these
stylists, and everyone in our circle seemed to genuinely
love their work. They would work long hours and never
complained. They wanted to do their best.
“I learned the ins-and-outs of the industry from
being with them and observing them do their work. They
generally didn’t have time to answer questions, so instead
of being told, I actually saw for myself, first-hand, how they
do things. During photo sessions, for example, I learned
how they showcase the best features of the products, how
they used lighting, and how they worked with the models to
bring out the best expressions.”
As he watched the photographers work, Dominique
realized that he was inadvertently apprenticing as a
photographer himself. “The photographers, Wig in
particular, noticed my extraordinary interest. He said, ‘You
should get a camera.’ When I asked what kind, he went even
further, telling me everything I would need to set up and
get started. It was during the heyday of film photography,
when the bar for entering photography was quite high, that
I began to learn both the art and craft. Wig and everyone
else were astoundingly generous with their sharing,” said
Dominique.
It may sound strange to hear of a willingness to share
knowledge, but true artists are not afraid of competition.
In fact, collaboration, sharing knowledge and artistic ideas,
works for the good of everyone. It’s a basic principle that
when someone is willing to sow in the soil of another seeker,
their own ability will multiply.
Before long, the work became too much for the existing
rosters of photographers. “We had so many campaigns going
on all the same time, pre-Internet and pre-social media
days, such we needed more photographic images faster than
the existing photographers’ output could provide. That’s
when I began doing product photos that we would release
in between major campaigns. Before I knew it, I was getting
deeper and deeper into photography.”
This was not, however, the future for which Dominique’s
family had planned. “My family didn’t understand what I
was doing at first. Being a photographer was not like being
a doctor at all where, after taking the board exams, work
generally comes to you. In photography, it’s more like—
you have to find your own way, carve your own path, and
create your own niche. My family was keeping an eye on me
because they wanted me to pursue a more traditional path.
For a time, I was somewhat of a black sheep.”
Dominique had fallen in love. “For me, photography
is love,” he said. Of course, love alone won’t pay the bills,
but Dominique had two things going for him. “I had a solid
family upbringing and the security of completing a bankable
college degree.”
Dominique knew how to work and had the tools to
make his work financially viable. He began his photography
career with film. “I worked with everything from negatives
to transparencies to negatives, from 135mm film to large
format. And then the ‘digital disruption’ came about, which
I thought was an exciting and interesting time, and I went
on to embrace it.”
In analog photography, the investment was in the
processing materials, he explained. In digital photography,
the investment has shifted to equipment as photographers
keep up to date with the ever-changing landscape of new
technology. “Both have their expenses. The idea of film is a
romantic one. Even though I know how to do film and could
do it if I wanted, digital is more efficient and generally more
convenient, and the quality of digital photography today is
incredible. Yes, there’s a certain texture to film photography,
but if your medium is online, it’s not easily apparent. Even
that so-called texture can be easily simulated nowadays
through digital means.”
Among Dominique’s many accomplishments in Asia,
his work has been featured in more than fifty one-man and
group photography exhibits. While he is best known for his
celebrity portraits, his scope of work is diverse: it includes
cutting-edge fashion, product, food, travel, landscape,
architectural, interior, and adventure photography for
advertising, commercial, corporate, entertainment, fashion,
and editorial use.
When Dominique first learned that he had been
approved to come to the U.S. in the fall of 2007, which
he had almost forgotten while immersed in his work as a
professional photographer, he was suddenly faced with a
tough decision. “Despite the fact that I knew such a day of
reckoning would come, I was still shocked when I heard
the news. At that time, I was starting to gain recognition
for my work in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia. I’d
been formally in the business for a little over ten years by
then, and everyone knew me. I was booked for months out.
And I had a growing circle of personal and industry friends.
Packing up and moving to America meant leaving it all
behind.”
But there was something in the U.S. that was even more
valuable to Dominique than his photography business:
Family. “Filipinos are generally family-oriented,” he said.
Ironically, he received his first camera from his uncle,
Nestor Domingo, the husband of his aunt in America, when
“The first thing I decided I would
need to do was to get to know
America. I spent some time
traveling to as many major states
as I could. I traveled from the East
Coast, West Coast, Midwest, and
down south to Florida.”