TRAVEL light, a group of photographers and photojournalists, is hitting three birds with one stone. In their annual travel, they?re not only shooting the place and its people from a touristic angle but also recording it with a journalistic eye while advancing photography as fine art.

The worthy photographers include Edwin Tuyay, Chito Vecina, Andy Samaniego, Jun Garcia, Jorge Maniquis, Mervin Gobaco, Nelwin Uy, Robert Garcia, J. Lucas Reyes, Madge Lejano, Ellen San Pedro-Tuyay and Anne A. Jambora.

Witness their exhibit ?Hello Malaysia,? recently at the Atrium of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

(The exhibit was accompanied by four workshops, with Jun Miranda on basic photography and traditional darkroom techniques; Lito Sy on wedding photography; Mark Floro on food photography; and Raymund Isaac on fashion photography.

(The event was sponsored by Tourism Malaysia, MOA, SMX, Malaysia Airlines, Canon Phils., Axis Global, Philippine Center for Creative Imaging, I-Mag Photography, Aperture Trading, Likha Events & Catering Specialists, Angel?s Delight Catering and Services, MSD Godspeed Exhibits, Design Manila.)

These are over 100 images from the group?s latest foray, this time in Malaysia, covering the country?s capital Kuala Lumpur and cultural, historical and tourism destinations such as the Genting Highlands, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, plus the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

As early as the 1900s, Alexander Graham Bell saw that ?the photograph could be turned into a narrative device that was, for journalistic purposes, more dramatic, more enticing, and more interesting than words.? Here it is then for your perusal.

The group?s expressive photographs explore a wide range of genres, from landscape to portrait to still life, from action shots to narrative scenes. Common to most of them is a demonstration of the journalist?s instinct, that sense of being in the right place at the right time ? what in photography Henri Cartier-Bresson identifies as ?the decisive moment.?

As in most Asian countries, the Malaysian scene is aburst with primary and secondary colors, usually with warm hues for tonal accentuation. Here the photographers either revel in nervous hues or compose neat color planes.

Also, as in most Asian countries, visual texture is a fact of life. In the few black-and-white photos, texture naturally assumes the function of color tonality.

In shot after shot, the magic hour has been captured, that ?one instant in the life of an image.? Many of these photos show the journalist?s apprehension of action, here indicated by the almost-imperceptible shifting of motion and fine gradation of natural light.

Most display the artist?s love of patterns, understanding of line and texture, grasp of color theory, and compositional acumen. Some even exhibit a surrealism à la Cartier-Bresson, the highlighting of Ansel Adams, the artiness of Man Ray.

But, every subject is crucial, every shot decisive, imbuing each image with an ineffable mystique.