MANILA, Philippines - To celebrate Victory Liner’s 65th year in the business, the country’s largest bus operator servicing Northern Luzon mounted a photo exhibit commending the people behind the company’s success — drivers, conductors, service personnel; in short, its entire workforce. Top photographer George V. Cabig managed to capture the dynamism of the people that steers Victory Liner.
“When the project was given to me, I immediately liked it. We broached several ideas for execution but the objective remained the same — to focus on the men and women behind Victory Liner,” Cabig says.
The lensman has been taking pictures of people, places and events for major corporations and magazines. His works have also been featured in books penned by some of the country’s distinguished authors like National Artist Nick Joaquin and TOYM awardee Manny Duldulao. Cabig’s photos have also won in numerous contests here and abroad. Today, he acts as mentor for the Federation of Philippines Photographers Foundation, teaching budding shutterbugs the fundamentals of photography. It was also during a photo session where Cabig’s capabilities led him to the Victory Liner engagement.
“I conducted a workshop where one participant was associated with Victory Liner,” he recalls. That participant turned out to be Victory Liner’s treasury and marketing head Marivic Del Pilar. When the concept of a photo shoot was pitched in, Del Pilar — who admires the multi-awarded photographer — immediately sought the services of Cabig.
The exhibit aimed to paint the hard work, perseverance and dedication of Victory Liner’s people through images. To capture this, Cabig set the photo shoot around several bus terminals in the metropolis — filming company personnel from different departments (e.g. maintenance, head office, etc.) in action.
“It is both easy and hard to take action shots. The best images are the ones that are taken spontaneously but at the same time, there are several factors that you have to take into consideration — the people’s awareness of their pictures being taken, the lighting, etc.,” he says.
Twenty images depicting the different facets of the Victory Liner environment were showcased — from the driver and stewardess in transit, to the maintenance personnel checking the bus’ spare parts, the conductor helping in loading/unloading passenger baggage, customer service personnel ensuring that ticket booking runs smoothly, up to the management leading the operation.
All in all, the images served to express the company’s corporate values: honesty, discipline, loyalty, efficiency, safety consciousness, courtesy, responsibility, cooperation and cleanliness, and George Cabig has effectively zoomed in on all of these.