about

Vicente Jaime R. Villafranca (b. 1982 Philippines)

Photo by Andy Spyra

Veejay started out as a staff photographer for the national news magazine the Philippines Graphic before venturing into freelancing. He also worked with several international news wire agencies before concentrating on his documentary projects in Asia.

He is the the recipient of the 2008 Ian Parry Scholarship grant with his project on the lives of former gang members in Manila which also garnered him a residency at the Visa Pour l'image photojournalism festival hosted by Crossing Point residency program on the same year. He was also the first Filipino to be selected in the 2013 Joop Swart Masterclass program.

Currently based in Manila, he does editorial assignments apart from working on his long-term projects tackling issues on the changing Filipino culture and religious practices, displacement due to the drastic change climate/weather patterns and his current exploration of Filipino diaspora through different landscapes across the Philippines.

He has been published globally with titles including International Herald Tribune, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Bloomberg Businessweek, World Policy Report and have worked with several aid organisations such as Oxfam International, U.N. World Food Program, U.N. FAO, UNFPA, UNICEF, Greenpeace International amongst others.

He is represented by Getty Images Global Assignments in London and Asia Motion in Asia.