John Javellana is a freelance photographer based in Manila who is currently working as a contract photographer for Reuters News Agency. His photos have been widely published worldwide through the wires, both online and print, in publications such as TIME, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Newsweek, The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Stern, and MSNBC to name a few. He has also completed commissioned work for various organizations and publications such as UNFPA, Reader’s Digest, Getty Images, Norwegian Business Daily, Roam Magazine, Greenpeace and Asian Literary Review.

Javellana specializes in covering spot/breaking news as well as doing features such as daily life singles; financial and corporate photos; sports images; and political news coverage. He has extensive knowledge of the city of Manila and surrounding provinces where he does the majority of his work.

 
Exhibition Note:

Three of the four works, selected for CUT2012 looks at political leaders in the Philippines. Lady Bountiful features Imelda Marcos during the previous 2010 election where the whole Marcos family (Imelda, her son Bong-Bong and daughter Imee) were able to successfully return to the political scene. For the artist, this is a testament that with enough time and limited political choices, even the most notorious figures can be victorious once again. But will this be the same for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose previous leadership saw many protests accusing her of corruption, in Fall of the Red Queen, or will current President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino Government, be able to successfully convict her of electoral fraud, fulfilling his goals to reduce corruption in Filipino politics?

The final work, In America We Trust,is a more playful scene during a 2009 memorial day ceremony in the American Cemetery, Manila, featuring US and Filipino soldiers. A helpless US soldiers stands with the flag covering his face unable to remove it due to protocol, mirrored by his Filipino counterparts, one, who nervously notices his misfortune. This humorous and spontaneous event inadvertently has the ability to take on a symbolic significance, when considering the socio-political relationship between these two countries.