The Lost Portraits: Ateneo Class 2D

Yeyet Estrada

In November of 1979, my mom gave me my first "real" camera for my 15th birthday.  I took these series of portrait photos of my classmates in 2D that same month with my Nikon F2A. These are priceless moments that are accompanied by a million stories from our days at the high school. While most continued on to graduate in 1982, I abruptly left for the states in my junior year. It was a good move for me, though I do regret not graduating with my batch mates whom I've been friends with since we set foot on the campus during our prep year.

I particularly love Yeyet's picture above. It shows a serious side of him which we all know was hardly ever visible during those crazy days in high school. I remember one late evening when Yeyet picked me up in a motor cross bike to attend
a Maryknoll soiree in LaVista. He was a riot and definitely the guy who pushed us passed our limits. Plus, he was quite the baker!

Alex and I hung out a lot as the designated PR guys for the class. It was in high school when Alex discovered that he was a chick's boy after all. He always played with his hair.

I love Eric Jurado's photo because it's a photo I took of him while he was at detention. He always had the big smile.

Jojo is actually wearing my baseball cap in his photo. The Ray Ban aviator was the fad back then as popularized in grade seven by Leo Macapanpan (even inside the classroom).

I remember Gerry's easy going attitude and his photo depicts his charismatic aura.

Eric Kipping-Torres' photo reflects his focused nature. He was always one of the smartest guys in the room as I have benefitted from copying many homeworks from him in grade school.

I remember how my compadre, Leo Suarez, habitually blew the front of his bangs constantly as if it was life's necessity.

2D was a good class that belonged to a greater collection of batch mates that made up the 1978/1982 graduating class at the Ateneo.

Last month's unexpected passing of our fellow Atenean, Kiko Rico, struck a nerve with our batch. It reminded us of how fragile life is. I have fond memories of chasing girls with Kiko, as I have many of our batch mates in the years we spent in the hallowed grounds of the school. It's been a year since my last blog post. Perhaps, it's Kiko's way of reminding me to press on.

Animo Ateneo!

Alex Araneta

Jojo Camacho

Eric Jurado

Eric Torres

Gerry Manzano

JP Trias

Leo Suarez

Eric Torres

Tad Abello

Yoohoo Villanueva

Veni Olivares

Gerry Manzano

Tonet Jacomina

Dennis Isleta

Alex Araneta

Francis Reyes

Miss Pastolero

Boom Martinez and Toby Tanada

Jack Ortiz and Eric Jurado

Roland Limgenco and Jack Ortiz

Eric Jurado and Jack Ortiz

Dennis Isleta

Gerry Manzano

Yeyet Estrada