Light Painter Jan Gonzales

There’s one thing Cebubased photographer Jan Gonzales loves capturing in his photos: drama. Drawing inspiration from painters like Caravaggio and Rembrandt, this visual storyteller plays with light to give his stills an ethereal look, almost as if it was painted by one of the greats.

- Ayie Licsi

This self-taught photographer did a lot of experimenting to achieve his signature style. In 2008, when Jan posted his images in web forums, his works caught the eye of U.S.-based businessman Paul C. Buff, who published his works in U.S. photography magazines.

How did you get your start in photography?

I first had experience with film during my college days. Then in 2007, I started digital photography out of curiosity. I found photography interesting, mixed with post-production in particular. I used a lot of Photoshop and loved how it allowed me to create composites.

Right now, I do photography for a living but I also have a business that I run. It just so happens that clients started to come in. When I started, I just shot for myself what I liked, which was portraits and cars.

Tell us about your first camera.

I think I had a 2MP point-and-shoot. I forgot the brand already but I started with that then moved to DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. I started using mirrorless cameras in 2012 with the Fujifilm 100. I was attracted to it because it looked nice, I didn’t really care that it was mirrorless. When I tried it, I found the quality of images nice for its size. So I thought to myself, “This Fujifilm is really nice, especially the colors.” I liked its digital film simulations, too. It was like shooting film. Luckily, when Fujifilm started here in the Philippines, they had me test the cameras they had and we started to work together since then.

What are your favorite subjects to photograph?