The food photographer and food stylist have been happily married for 21 years. (Photo by RUDY LIWANAG)

Mention food photography to anyone and they will tell you that Mark Floro is one of the best in the business. What makes his craft all the more exciting is his wife Linda working beside him. Her expertise in food styling adds dramatic flair to his photos. And if you see this husband-and-wife duo at work, you will understand why they are highly sought-after by their clients.

Mark began his stint with photography when he was just a young man. “Photography has been with me during my high school and college days. I just took pictures, and I got paid doing it. After graduating, I worked for Polaroid then went back to school at Art Center College of Design. During my first day there, I already knew I was going to be an advertising photographer,” relates Mark.

His wife Linda Navarrete had a special relationship with food right from the start. “It goes without saying that it was my husband Mark who introduced me to food styling. But when I first met him, I was the General Manager of an Italian restaurant, La Primavera,” recalls Linda. “Mark used to frequent the place.”

During their first conversation, Mark complained about the restaurant’s cheesecake. “It was rubber!” he says. “But my complaint was actually just an excuse to talk to her. There was no other opportunity to get her attention. I was interested in her from the start but she wasn’t.”

Linda remembers Mark as being baduy. He was wearing worn-out Nike shoes paired with uneven socks and shorts. But Mark was really persistent in courting her. He would wait until her shift is over just so he could see her, and he showered her with roses.

“She had work during late hours so I would wait for her. There was one time I was a little bit tipsy. I asked the waiter using my bad Tagalog to buy roses for her,” narrates Mark. “I gave him the money to purchase the roses and give those to her. As it turned out, the waiter gave Linda the money to buy the roses!”

Lucky for Mark that Linda didn’t get mad at him. She just said, “I don’t understand this. Give the money back to him!” Later, the couple just laughed about the misunderstanding.

They officially started dating on August of 1987, and in December of the same year, Mark proposed to Linda. “I know it was sudden,” says Mark. “But I had a life-changing experience. I dropped her home at 2 o’ clock in the morning and I was going back to Makati. All of a sudden, I heard noises and shooting. There was this half-naked guy who was running and he hits my car. He jumped over my hood and rushed to my right. Then he started shooting again. I honestly thought he was going to hit me!”

Mark sped away from the scene, and realized right then and there how short one’s life was. A few days after the terrifying incident, he proposed to Linda. “I didn’t want to put marriage off any longer,” he simply explains.

They got married on April 16, 1988 at Pope Pius Church. “For Linda, the date had a lot of good feng shui because of the number eight,” says Mark. But regardless of the “lucky” date, Mark and Linda shared a felicitous marriage. In fact, they have been happily married for 21 years.

The food photographer and stylist have one son named Jonathan. The creative juices of the couple have naturally been passed on to him, but he is following his mother’s footsteps more with his inclination towards the culinary arts. Because of their unpredictable work schedules, however, Linda confesses to missing quality time with their son. “We spend so much time at work that I do feel guilty. Sometimes we have to stay overnight at the studio because we have to finish a shoot,” she says.

The upside of their working together most of the time is that Mark and Linda’s relationship only grew stronger. “The understanding and love we have for each other only grew deeper as time passed,” notes Linda. Mark adds, “And what makes our marriage work is that we don’t try to change each other. We just accept each other’s differences.” They might be complete polar opposites, but when it comes to work, marriage, and parenting, Mark and Linda are in complete unison.

On Each Other

He said: She’s very prim and proper. We’re actually total opposites of each other. We’re fire and ice. I’m prompt, she’s not. I’m neat, she’s messy. Before, she likes salty food and I don’t. But now she’s changed her preference and I’m really grateful for that.

She said: He was so persistent while he was courting me and he seemed to be “legitimate.” Not only that, Mark seemed like such a nice and simple guy. And I finally found his being baduy endearing.

On Parenting

He said: I’m strict. I’m the disciplinarian. I’m the bad cop in our family while she’s the good cop.

She said: There has to be a balance in parenting and I try to break that balance. If he’s the bad cop, then I have to be the understanding parent. It’s really very difficult to discipline an only child. When he was young, it was easier. But now that he has grown up, he would spend less time at home.

On Family and Marriage

He said: We’re together 24/7 so bonding for us would be having dinner with our son. She loves to cook and I love to eat so our marriage is perfect!

She said: Mark adjusted very well to marriage but I did not. He did not know that some nights I would be crying. He’s a straightforward person and I’m very sensitive. Sometimes he would say something hurtful to me, and he wouldn’t know what he said was wrong.