he was in grade school. “He gave me my first camera when
he came to visit us in the Philippines.” Even though his uncle
had passed away some time ago, Dominique had the feeling
that everything had come full circle.
He packed up and boarded a plane for a place he had only
seen on American TV shows and movies. After a sixteen-hour
flight, Dominique landed in Atlanta and went three hours
south to Vidalia. Leaving his home in Manila, a metropolitan
city of high rises, and arriving in the rural South was a bit of
a culture shock. “My idea of America was L.A. or New York
City,” said Dominique.
Not only was the landscape in contrast to the homeland
he left behind, he was certain he would freeze in the
unfamiliar fall weather. “There are two seasons in the
18 Toombs County Magazine
Philippines: warm and hot, with a whole lot of rain
in between.”
Upon arriving in America as a new permanent
resident, he could not leave the U.S. for a
successive period of five years if he wanted to apply
for American citizenship. He wasn’t completely
sure he wanted to stay but figured he had time
to decide. “The first thing I decided I would need
to do was to get to know America. I spent some
time traveling to as many major states as I could. I
traveled from the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest,
and down south to Florida.” And everywhere he
went, Dominique had his camera with him to
capture the sights of his new environment.
“I settled in Manhattan and began looking for
work. B&H, the biggest photography store in the
world, is based in New York, and the PhotoPlus
Expo, the biggest annual professional photography
event, is held there each year at the Javits
Convention Center. To a photographer in the
United States therefore, there’s no better place to
be than in New York City.”
Before long, Dominique’s clients came from the
theatre, artists, models, and some talent agencies.
“I did some commercial work and got the chance
to work on fashion shoots for the famed New York
Fashion Week.”
Dominique also became a certified Apple
Trainer and became eligible to teach some of their
photography classes, making him eligible to teach
at any Apple store in the world. “I don’t know if
it’s exciting to anyone else, but I’ve actually been
to more than fifty Apple stores in the U.S. and
elsewhere, including Cupertino.” He smiled.
Perhaps even more important than connecting
with new clients, Dominique connected with the
Filipino community in New York. “The largest
communities of Filipinos are in three places: first,
Hawaii, because of the proximity to the Philippines
and the weather,” he said and laughed. “Secondly,
Los Angeles and San Francisco. And thirdly, in
the tristate area of New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania.”
Another important transition for Dominique
was with something as common and simple as
currency and transportation. “The currency in the
Philippines is pesos. I didn’t know if a cup of coffee
was expensive or not. I had to learn how much I
could spend and how much I needed to earn in
dollars to make a living.” Anyone who has ever
traveled outside of the U.S. and tried to convert
foreign currency in your head while trying to
simply pay for a drink can sympathize.
Two years after coming to the U.S., Dominique
had to formally close his photography business
interests in the Philippines. “I learned that it was
The top of New York City's
iconic Empire State Building.