Talented Filipino photobloggers are making their mark in the blogosphere but this time around, let us take a look at a European who has done the novel and admirable way of highlighting the Philippines in his fledgling photoblog. We say "fledgling" because Sidney Snoeck - a 46-year old Belgian married to a Filipina - started blogging only three months ago. His being a newbie, however, has not prevented him from capturing the Philippines in all its raw nakedness and glory. Filipinos might take for granted scenes of everyday life in these sunny islands but this vibrant European sees it all - harried laborers, playful children, colorful jeepneys, time-honored rituals and such. As a bonus, there is even a recipe for adobo which only shows how this blogger has acquired the taste for everything Pinoy and Filipino. Visit his blog at http://my_sarisari_store.typepad.com.

Q. Who is Sidney, behind the lens?

A. I am a Belgian and I migrated to the Philippines in 2002. In my home country, I was managing the family-owned printing and publishing company together with my brother Patrick. We specialized in art books. I was in charge of the production. We worked around the clock and basically I was a prisoner inside the four walls of my own company. Luckily it was also a rewarding job since I had the opportunity to meet a lot of artists and supervise the production of books about famous photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson, Antoine Verglas, David Sorrenti, Cindi Sherman, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Donna Trope, Erwin Olaf and many others.

After more than 20 years doing the same job I really feeled burned out. Little by little, we printers, shifted from being craftspeople to being industrialists. Technology allowed us to work faster and faster and price became more important than quality. Although our company was founded in 1782 my brother and I decided we’ve seen enough and we sold it in 2001 (we kept the publishing arm).

During my summer vacations I always tried to travel to different parts of the world. I got hooked with Asia and I started to travel in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China etc.  In 1988 I visited the Philippines for the first time. Instead of falling in love with the country, I fell in love with a beautiful Bicolana who later became my wife. We now have one son.

So in 2001, when we sold our printing factory, I decided to start a new life and move to the Philippines.

I am still in love with my wife, with books, with traveling and with photography.

Q. Why did you decide to put up a photoblog, aside of course from the fact that you love photography?

A. My family and friends in Belgium were complaining that they didn’t get enough news from me. My sister-in-law suggested that I should start an online photo album so that they could see a bit of our life in Manila. At about that time I discovered the Nikon D70 camera which fulfilled all my technical requirements. And last but not least I wanted to keep up with technology. It was the perfect moment to start blogging. My first entry was posted in March 2005. As you can see I am still a greenhorn in the blogosphere.

It became a photo blog because I am not good at writing, haha.

Q.Considering that you have travelled all over, why a photoblog focusing on the Philippines?

A. The Philippines is my new home. I like to share with other people what I see around me. When you read the news (national and international) about the Philippines it is all about corruption, murders, drug lords, shabu dealers, jueteng, kidnappings, bombings, terrorists, coup plots, etc. My friends in Belgium think I am living in a war zone...

I hope that my photo blog, in its own little way, will  give a more positive image of this country. I want to show that it is beautiful with a lot of friendly, smiling and fun loving people. The Filipino joie de vivre, even in times of adversity, is truly unique.

Q. How did you get to choose the name "My Sari-Sari Store" as your blog's title?

A. I first thought of naming my blog "halo-halo" .I wanted to convey the idea that I am showing a bit of everything, like the mix of ingredients in a halo-halo cup. But for non-Tagalog speakers "halo-halo" would mean something different. So I thought the next best thing was sari-sari. I too "sell" a bit of everything in my blog.

Q. What photo equipment are you using? Your dream gadgets?

A. I have a Nikon D70 camera with an 18-70mm and a 75-300mm lens.

I dream of a new computer with a very fast processor with endless memory. I would also like a large flat screen monitor.

Q. Can you share some tips  on things to do and remember before putting up a blog?

A. Don’t start a blog if you are not sure that you can update it regularly.

In my opinion you shouldn’t start one either if you have nothing to tell. Who wants to know that you are lonely, that you quarreled last night with your boyfriend, that you are sick of life and that you want to stay in bed for the rest of the day?

Don’t have high expectations about the readership of your blog. According to a survey there are more than 2.8 million blogs. However, 80% have no incoming links, which means, nobody reads them (Wired, August 2004). Thus there are 600.000 blogs that are read, but of this, only a few ten thousand have  substantial readership.

Blogging should be fun. Instead of writing your thoughts on paper you can do it online. Don’t expect to become famous or rich by blogging but I am sure that along the way you will meet some interesting people and maybe gather a small audience.

Q. Any interesting feedback from your friends all over the world about your photoblog?

A. Almost all the Filipinos living abroad who made it to my blog are telling me how much they miss their home country. Foreigners are surprised by the number of smiling people in my pictures.

Q. What do you think makes a photoblog tick? Any favorite photoblogs by Filipinos?

A. A photoblog is like a book. It needs to have an interesting content, a nice design, beautiful drawings and pictures and be consistent.

There are many beautiful Pinoy photo blogs. I recommend visiting the photo blog of Ren Reyes who recently migrated to Canada and who is photographing the city he lives in (http://apicaday.blogspot.com/) I also like Ed’s "My Everyday Manila" whose blog you can find at http://www.everdisturbed.com/manila/.

Q. What are your plans for your blogging in the future?

A. I am still in the stage of trying to post a new picture every day. I would like to post more pictures about the countryside. Later on I want to re-design my whole blog because I want to display my pictures in a much bigger size. There is still a lot of work ahead.

(For comments and inquiries, email the author at annalyn.jusay@gmail.com)