MANILA, Philippines – With both his father and grandfather being avid shutterbugs, it was inevitable that Vicente Jaime “VJ” Villafranca would himself grow to love the lens. “My dad would let me carry his old Nikon F during my high school days and tell me to shoot anything,” the 26-year-old freelance photojournalist recalls.

Villafranca graduated from the University of Santo Tomas College of Fine Arts and Design, majoring in Advertising Arts, but he found his niche in sophomore year, when he got a staff job at the Philippine Graphic, eventually stringing for wire agencies Reuters and Agence France Press before concentrating on documentary photography. Villafranca has been all over Asia, in places like Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Japan; his work has been syndicated by the New York-based World Picture News. Even more impressively, he is a recipient of the prestigious London-based Ian Parry Grant, which gives a £3,000 grant to fund that 24-and-under photographer’s project; the grant remembers Ian Parry, a daring British photojournalist who died at 24 while on duty in a warzone.

Villafranca’s portfolio, 12 black-and-white shots of a gang operating in Manila’s Baseco Compound, showcases Villafranca’s searing perspective on issues found in images. This same intensity can be found in Villafranca’s work on disasters, human trafficking and refugees.

“My dream is that Filipino photojournalists be given a venue to show their personal works,” he says. “I believe that even though the world has proclaimed that we are a dying breed because of technological advancements and lack of venue, we still bust our a__s to shoot in far flung places and danger zones so as the public may see.”

For now, Villafranca is hard at work on that top-secret project funded by the Ian Parry Grant and his photographs will also grace two coffee table books to be released soon. It is the perfect time for VJ Villafranca’s close-up. “Every day is a school day if you are a photojournalist,” he says of his chosen vocation. “You learn new things everyday, then you re-learn it the next.” RSDV