Ben Razon is a freelance photographer based in Manila, Philippines. He has over 30 years of experience in photography, beginning in high school. He has worked on numerous projects documenting people and events in the Philippines, including elections, protests, natural disasters, and cultural productions. His work has been published in various magazines and books. He continues to work on long-term documentary projects focused on communities in the Philippines.

1. BENRAZONPHOTOS 5/22/09 8:58 AM
BEN RAZON
Current Working Profile, updated JANUARY 2009
email: benrazon@gmail.com
mobile: +639178110406
landline: (63)(2) 453-4639
mailing and home address: #5 Ofelia St., Bahay Toro, Project 8, Quezon City, Metro
Manila 1106
CAREER SUMMARY
Ben Razon started in photography in 1977, a year before graduating from high
school in a small coalfield town of Logan in southern West Virginia in the United
States. He was fascinated with art and chemistry, and was inspired by his teacher on
the subject who also happened to teach photography and the basic process of black
and white film developing and printing. That served as the impetus for him to begin
shooting sports and portraits for the school paper and the yearbook, and the artistic
nod to further school himself in formal photographic education at the Art Institute
of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania shortly after graduating from high school. After
acquiring an Associate Degree in Specialized Technology in Photography and
Multimedia and studying under the visual influences of Andre Kertesz, Walker Evans
and Garry Winogrand, he moved on to New York City assisting for studio advertising
photographer Michael Nelson at 7 East 17th St. on the lower East Side of the photo
district in Manhattan during the early 80s. He then decided to return home to his
native city of Manila, Philippines to immerse himself in the exciting tumult of the
Ninoy Aquino post-assasination era while shooting corporate and annual report
related assignments for two Makati ad and design agencies while wading through
the Ayala Avenue (the financial and business district of the country) protest rallies
against the Marcos regime.
With his photojournalism/reportage fire well-lit, he assisted Magnum Agency
photographer Steve McCurry who was then doing the country story on the
Philippines for National Geographic and followed him in his course of shooting in all
levels of society from forbes park to smokey mountain to malacanang. After post-
EDSA 1 he took his bulky Nikons to heart in shooting fulltime for the Philippine Daily
Globe and NEWSDAY, and with the solid advice and guidance of photographic mentor
Dick Baldovino, he switched to the smaller Leica rangefinder cameras which
pioneered a view of realist, in-depth, essayed photojournalism at the time. His
long-term photodocumentary work focused on the RP-U.S. Bases deliberations and
its final NO vote of the facilities in the Philippine Senate, the eruption of Mt.
file:///Users/benrazon/Desktop/Ben%20Razon%20current%20working%20profile%20January%202009.htm Page 1 of 5

2. BENRAZONPHOTOS 5/22/09 8:58 AM
Pinatubo, the pullout of the Americans and the closure of Clark and Subic Bases, the
abandoned Filipino Amerasian children in Olongapo and Clark, and the
environmental dislocation of the Aetas from their ancestral lands in Zambales,
Tarlac, and Pampanga provinces.
Dubbed as a standout shooter by the much-respected Spanish photographer
Cristina Garcia Rodero and admired by legendary Magnum Agency photographer
Hiroji Kubota, Ben has been in freelance editorial and special project work since the
mid-90s, documenting the rise of information technology in the country for
Computerworld Philippines and Microsoft, photographic coffee table books of
Philippine beauty and tourist spots, the Manila production of Miss Saigon at the
Cultural Center of the Philippines, and his present involvement and support of The
Digital Q, a professional film-scanning and digital archiving-editing affiliate of
Fujifilm/YKL Color Laboratory in Manila.
WORK OF PAST TO PRESENT
Volunteer work in media outreach efforts for Democrats Abroad Philippines,
coordinating absentee voter registration awareness for Filipino-American and
American citizen expatriates in the Philippines in support of voter participation in
the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election and the candidacy of Democratic Party candidates
on the federal and state levels. Attended the 56th Presidential Inauguration of the
44 th President of the United States, Barack Obama and the Vice-President, Joseph
Biden in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2009 and photographed the historic event
in personal documentary fashion. (March 2008 - January 2009)
Photographic documentation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to accompany a
research and sociological study book publication written by Robyn Rodriguez on the
Filipino diaspora funded and published by the Department of Sociology at Rutgers
University. Photography involved images of overseas Filipino worker applicants at
the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA), the families and effects of overseas worker remittances in how
relatives of the workers benefited and the economic effects of the remitted money in
retail malls and investments in medium-level housing, the accoutrements in lower to
upper middle class markets. (June – September 2008)
Project work in Tondo’s Pier 18 for the Philippine Christian Foundation (PCF),
documentary photography in the non governmental organization’s effort in
education and health/sanitation information and maintenance for the children and
parents of Pier 18 garbage dump residents. (March – April 2008)
file:///Users/benrazon/Desktop/Ben%20Razon%20current%20working%20profile%20January%202009.htm Page 2 of 5

3. BENRAZONPHOTOS 5/22/09 8:58 AM
Photographic documentation of the senatorial campaign of former Philippine House
Representative Francis G. 'Chiz' Escudero for the Philippine Senate. (January 2007 -
May 2007)
Contributing photography on feature stories for Manila’s BusinessDay, a weekly
magazine of current events, culture and the arts. Feature photography on the
country’s theater scene such as the Metropolitan Theatre Guild Foundation of
Manila, Dulaang UP, Barasoain Kalinangan and the relaunching of the Filipinescas
Dance Company at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. (2004 - 2005)
Photographs for ‘The Rulemakers – How the Wealthy and Well-Born Dominate
Congress’; a book project on a 2-year study done by The Philippine Center for
Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). Images of current representatives-congressmen of
the 12th Philippine Congress. (March 2004)
Contributing photography for the San Francisco Chronicle on Bush visit to Manila,
and the Australian ‘New Idea’ magazine, on feature stories of Ruth Pearce, Australian
ambassador to the Philippines, and of Good Friday Lenten rituals in Pampanga
province, Philippines. (April 2004, June and October 2003)
Industrial location photography for Camus Engineering, visual updated
documentation of past and current project sites whose clients include SM
supermalls, Ayala Corporation, Insular Life, Roxas Triangle, Philamlife, and the
Manila Jockey Club. (July – August 2003)
Contributing photography to Businessworld Internet Edition and its ongoing
MobileMedia Projects --
1) The Churches of Laguna, Cavite and Bulacan provinces of Holy Week, April 2003
2) Mobile Media Turista 2003, Kalibo’s Ati-atihan Festival and Boracay International
Windsurfing Competition, January 2003
3) Environmental photography on the Philippine Eagle, Mt. Apo and Mt. Kitanglad as
part of Businessworld’s Environmental Protected Areas Report, June 2002
Photographic documentation of the Philippine production of quot;Miss Saigonquot;, Cultural
Center of the Philippines (February 2000 – March 2001); photography from day one
of ocular inspections, arrival and construction of production stage, cast auditions
and final selections of talent, technical rehearsals, and official cast photographs of
the production for the official Manila souvenir program. Photographed the British
stage producer of ‘Miss Saigon’ Sir Cameron Mackintosh and the musical’s
composer, Claude-Michel Sch önberg during their participation in the Philippine
production.
Editorial photography for Businessworld’s ‘Men’s Zone’ magazine (1997 – 1999);
file:///Users/benrazon/Desktop/Ben%20Razon%20current%20working%20profile%20January%202009.htm Page 3 of 5

4. BENRAZONPHOTOS 5/22/09 8:58 AM
photography of local and visiting foreign personalities for feature stories, from
fashion supermodel Claudia Schiffer and NBA basketball player Grant Hill to then
President-elect Joseph Ejercito Estrada.
Photographic public relations coverage of projects and events of Fujitsu Philippines
and Microsoft Philippines. (1999 - 2005).
Ongoing photo documentary project on the Mt. Pinatubo Aetas, their return to and
reclamation of their ancestral lands in Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales provinces.
(March 1999-present).
Participating photographer for the ‘Philippines – A Journey through the Archipelago’
coffee table book project and assigned to the Mt. Pinatubo – Central Luzon area,
October 1995; and ‘Filipino Style’ coffee table book, 1997.
Assisted Magnum photographer Hiroji Kubota in 1996 on his book on Southeast
Asia, ‘Out of the East’. Photographic assistant and location coordinator to three
National Geographic Magazine photographers Steve McCurry, Joanna Pinneo, and Ed
Kashi on Philippines stories in 1985, 1997, and 1999 from the Marcos-Aquino
transition, global climate change, and the Mt. Pinatubo Aetas.
Staff and contributing Photographer for Computerworld Philippines (1991 – 1998),
Philippines Newsday and the Philippine Daily Globe (1989 – 1992); photography of
the rise of information technology in the country and of Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates’ visit to Manila, the Philippine Senate, the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and the
withdrawal of the Americans from Clark Air and Subic Naval Bases.
EDUCATION
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Associate Degree in
Photography/Multi-Media (1978-1980). Dean's List seven out of eight quarters'
study.
Logan Junior-Senior High School, Logan, West Virginia; College Preparatory Degree;
1977 Roster Of Distinguished American High School Students (1973-1978)
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, Manila, Philippines; (1965-1970) Prep and
Elementary
PERSONAL INTERESTS
file:///Users/benrazon/Desktop/Ben%20Razon%20current%20working%20profile%20January%202009.htm Page 4 of 5

5. BENRAZONPHOTOS 5/22/09 8:58 AM
Reading and writing.
Classical and jazz music.
Born: April 6, 1960, Manila, Philippines
Additional WEBSITES and LINKS
http://www.artinstitutes.edu/pittsburgh/AlumniNetwork/success_Ben_Razon.aspx
http://emanila.com/benrazon/people/index.htm
http://emanila.com/benrazon/intro.htm
http://emanila.com/benrazon/miss_saigon/index.htm
file:///Users/benrazon/Desktop/Ben%20Razon%20current%20working%20profile%20January%202009.htm Page 5 of 5