WBW 14: Open Doors for Others and the Better You Will Be

“Keep your trade secrets to yourself. That’s your edge.” It’s what they all say. But if that ever happened in a pure sense, greater knowledge wouldn’t be reached and every great idea would die in the grave of its inventor. In this episode, Jonathan S. Avila, better known as Jo talks about why the photography industry thrives in the great ideal of passing every great skill you’ve ever known to a deserving student not only to leave a great legacy, but also to raise the bar of human potential.

Who is Jo Avila?

Jonathan S. Avila as a kid, didn’t really know what to be when he grew up. Until in 1988, he took an extra class in photography because he was curious how a Polaroid camera worked. Never once did he miss a class. After the semester of photography class, he asked permission from his teacher to take the same class again, for the reason that he believes he may learn something new the next time around. His teacher was impressed and then asked him if he wanted to take photography as a profession, after which, he never looked back.

Upon graduating in 1990 with a degree in AB Communication from Ateneo de Manila University, Jo Avila spent the next two and a half years apprenticing under his then teacher and mentor, Pancho Escaler of Chroma Philippines, Inc. He then went back to the university to render service by working as the lone staff member of the photography department of the Jesuit Communications Foundation.

In 1997, Jo Avila Photography was set up as a formal business. With that, the list of clients has been as numerous and as diverse as Jo’s interests.  Included in the list of past and present corporate clients have been Ayala Land, Inc., Asiatrust, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Convergys, Double Slash Media, Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation, Globe Telecom, K2 Interactive, Landco, Medical City, Metropolitan Museum, Negros Navigation and Smart Telecom.

Jo Avila has also taken photograph shots for magazines such as Working Mom and High Life.

He has held teaching positions in Assumption College San Lorenzo, St. Paul’s College Manila and Xavier High School Greenhills.  He also became a summer lecturer on basic photography at the Department of Communication of Ateneo de Manila University for more than a decade, from 1994 to 2007.

He now offers locally well-known seminars at his studio in Basic and Advance Photography, Basic and Advance Food Styling and Food Photography.

For many of his past students and colleagues, all can agree that Jo has a multitude of interests, stories and lessons to talk about. With his now healthy and “macho” transformation, it seems that everything Jo stands for is simply a testament to his enthusiasm and curiosity for life.

When asked what's his greatest failure?

• Some students show that they can’t learn photography
• Hard to convince students that they can become good photographers

When asked what's his greatest success?

Show notes:

Their Success in My Success

• One of his students, John Mateos Ong, runs Imagination Photography, a very successful photography business. John shared that all of his staff are considered the “grandchildren” or apo. What Jo has taught John, John has taught his staff.
• Some of his students email him saying “Sir Jo, nanalo ako sa photo contest. Nagamit ko yung sinabi mo.”
• "It’s a very fulfilling experience. It'ss all about Paying it Forward."

Career Planning

• Originally had no intention of becoming a photographer
• Jo’s first few choices of his college course included AB English Literature, AB Music, AB Communications.
• By 3rd year, Jo really wanted to take up further studies in Fine Arts. Dad agreed to supporting him with a few condition that Jo’s parents will only cover for the "matrikula". Jo will have to cover for all the other expenses.

Interest in Photography

• With his interest in visual arts, he started reading up on famous visual artists such as David Hockney and Andy Warhol. Their works involved shooting something in Polaroid, going back to the studio and sketching something from it. Since he didn’t know anything about photography, he decided to learn more about it.
• Photography was available as an elective in Ateneo.
• On the first day of classes, he went up to the teacher and asked if he could sit in, despite still not having any electives. The teacher agreed with a few conditions, that Jo must do everything the other students will do as if he were enrolled and that the teacher never ever wanted to hear from him that he will not try because there was no grade in it for him.
• In the following school year, Jo went back to the same teacher asking if he could sit in the exact same class with a reason that “there might be something new to learn”.
• The teacher asked if Jo wanted to make a career out of it and Jo said "Yes". The teacher then told Jo to approach him after graduating. It was the final semester in his final year and Jo would have a job waiting for him as his assistant.
• Jo then changed career choices, choosing to pursue photography instead of fine arts.

Pay It Forward

• Jo shares with his students that “If someone asks you something and you know the answer because you learned it from me, Pay It Forward, because the only reason why he knows so much is because he asked a lot of people and none of them were selfish with their knowledge, so you should do the same thing and Pay It Forward”
• During some of his shoots, some people would ask Jo if they could be his assistants, even just carrying his bags. Why would he say No? One, it was an extra pair of hands and second, he went through the same thing before, asking if he could sit in the shoots of his teacher.
• In the online forums, this is Jo conceptualized the idea of a VA (Volunteer Assistant). Nowadays, not only did a lot of people ask for it, but there are some people who never became a VA for him but they post VA slots on the internet as well.

Learn By Watching

• Had a student once named Miguel who sat in one of his shoots. It was an available light shoot. Jo was looking at the shot and instructed Miguel to open that door on the side. Jo takes 3 shots and then they pack up and their done. Jo then asked Miguel “What would you have done differently?” Miguel wouldn’t have thought of opening that door. Jo told Miguel, "So the only thing stopping you from earning 7 thousand pesos for that shot was opening that door."
• You wouldn’t think of opening that door if you didn’t have the experience. It comes with being open to different things
• That’s why you talk with other people because you will not be able to learn everything from experience on your own. You have to rely on the experience of other people. Since they were nice in sharing that information with you, might as well pay it forward and open other doors for other people.

Watching Before Doing

• "I believe that before you learn by doing, you learn by watching other people."
• Some people complain and tell him, that kapag nag-VA ka kay Jo, you’ll never ever get to shoot.
• In Jo’s personal experience, he was in a studio as a trainee for 3 months before he was allowed to shoot
• Jo had a lot of long-term VAs. One of them was Mike Alcid. They were in a wedding event. Normally when it’s the homily, it would have a queue to go to the back of the church and shoot with a wide angle lens. In this particular event, just after taking two shots, the priest gave the shortest homily and the next part was the vows. Jo then ran up the aisle towards altar, but he had the wrong lens attached. And there was Mike beside the aisle, holding the exact lens that Jo needed which he changed on the fly
• By that point, Mike was no longer a passive observer. Mike had the mindset. You don’t get that from shooting. You get that from observing
• You want to make mistakes on your own. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s how it works. But you

Training the Future Competition

• Someone asked Jo, "Aren’t you scared that they might one day become a pro and that you might actually be training the future competition?"
• Jo attended a seminar once and one of the concepts discussed was Win-Win. The example cited was Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was holding clinics and giving tips. He was asked the exact same question, and yes, at one point you are training the competition. But the second point is that it improves the game, so all the more for me (Michael Jordan) to become better at basketball.
• When you teach others your tips and tricks, you get motivated to improve. What’s the point of being great if the competition is not so great. It's different being the best VS being the best of the best
• "So if I teach you this, and if everyone improves and to survive in the work environment, you have to uplift yourself, then who is the loser? Everyone wins because we are shooting at the peak of what we can achieve and that’s good for anything you do"

Lesson

Share whatever skills you may know to those who truly deserve it. In the end, it makes you more indispensable, leaving not only a good legacy but also a generation of true human potential.

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