Clark Royandoyan
A Picture is worth a thousand words? Okay, bet.
Long ago, there was a boy.
The boy came home every day at 3:00PM on the dot from school. He took off his shoes, changed into his pambahay clothes, and went to mano his lola who lived upstairs. His lola would be in the sala watching a Filipino variety show. As he did his homework, his lola and tita would flip between The Filipino Channel (Yes, that's what it's called) and the local news. If he completed his homework on time, he was allowed to watch the latest episode of whatever teleserye the rest of his family was hooked on. To end off the night, he would snuggle in between his parents as his dad watched the latest news in the Philippines before letting him switch the TV to the Disney Channel.
~~~
While half those words might make little sense to the average person, that story is the perfect summary of my elementary school years growing up. I grew up on both Filipino and American media, and that has shaped the work I create today.
My work is an attempt at bridging the gap between my Filipino heritage and my American upbringing. My culture combines the mythos of Americana with the spirit of survival that lives within the Philippines. The community-first mindset of my childhood set me up to work as a team player on set as an adult.
Photo credits: robert Daniels