One day in 1950, a father was so excited taking graduation picture of his daughter in Maryknoll College. To his dismay the pictures he took on that very special occasion was “very bad”. These were the exact words of one of the pillars of the Camera Club of the Philippines, Niding Maloles. Niding or Ka Niding as he is fondly called by his friends and members of the CCP was that father, using his first camera, an Asahi, Pentax. Because of that incident , he decided to study photography and “perfected the art” the hard way. A self-taught photographer, he slowly developed his skills by experimentation and learning from his mistakes.
Niding and CCP
Niding joined the club in 1978, with his friend Vic Velenciano (father of singer-actor Gary Valenciano) as his sponsor. Niding did not have much to say about his probee life. “There was no probee during our time because all of us in the club act like probees every time there’s an affair or club exhibits” he quipped. His batchmates include Bimbo Mills, Ernie Fajardo, Bobby Paterno and Jaime Zobel de Ayala.
Photography and Travel
For Niding, photography is not just a hobby. In his 38 years as member of the CCP, photography has become his passion and his dedication to art cannot be measured. He also love to share his experiences not only in the field of photography but also his encounters with the people he met through his lens. Since he loves to travel, Niding visited almost all the islands in the Philippines as well as other exotic and beautiful places around the world. What was amazing about his travels is that Niding seldom travel by air as he opts to travel via luxury cruise ships. During those travels he took photos of landscapes, interesting places, events and people. He believes that every time he clicks his camera, he is creating stories that will interest people who will look at it.
Tireless Niding
Indeed, Niding does not get tired of the CCP, proof of which is his consistent presence during its monthly meetings, along with his contemporary, Doc Amado Castro. But unlike Doc Amado, Niding still finds time to look into his stock photos and join the monthly contests. “May asim pa talaga si Niding!”
In Focus
Last August 2010, Niding, together with fellow member Raul Montifar, held an exhibit at the Camera Club of the Philippines Center. It was a rare chance to see the works of Niding in mounted displays and was well attended by both his family and CCP friends. The exhibit was held for 2 weeks.
