From the Sidelines is a feature series that seeks to profile talented individuals who work behind the scenes in contributing to the greater success of Ateneo Sports. In the fourth installment, we go behind the lens to capture the story of Joji Lapuz, a veteran sports photographer who has immortalized several iconic moments in Ateneo sports history.

BEHIND THE striking pictures of athletes in action are sports photographers who shine the spotlight on them. Having dedicated years to honing her craft, Fabilioh Senior Editor Joji Lapuz has captured numerous battles and glorious moments of the Blue and White. Although her passion for photography began as a mere hobby, it eventually developed into a lifelong vocation that has allowed her to share her love for both photography and sports with the rest of the Ateneo community.

Personal discoveries

Tita Joji’s journey as a budding photographer began in her fourth grade field trip, when her grandfather lent her his personal camera. After casually taking photos of her elementary friends and the beautiful sceneries, Tita Joji’s interest in capturing memories was ignited.

With a deep desire to develop her skills behind the camera, Tita Joji’s first few gigs were with her high school yearbook club. During this time, she dabbled in sports photography for the first time after volunteering to document her school’s intramurals. Apart from learning how to take action shots of her schoolmates, this experience heightened Tita Joji’s interest in sports photography.

Upon entering college, Tita Joji momentarily left the world of sports photography. Once filled with athletes and games, her camera gallery slowly transformed into a keepsake for photos of leisure, vacations, and out-of-town trips with her friends.

However, sports photography made a comeback later on in Tita Joji’s adult life when her children became athletes. Her utmost support for her children was shown through capturing the best shots of her daughter during her ice-skating performances and her son during his football and fencing tournaments.

Besides documenting her children’s athletic milestones, Tita Joji took photographs of the Ateneo Men’s Basketball Team (AMBT) during their five-peat reign in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) as an audience member. Regardless of where she was seated, Tita Joji would take photos of the players while cheering for the AMBT and upload them to her personal Facebook account. In 2014, she was discovered and recruited by Philip Sison to join the Ateneo Sports Shooters and Fabilioh.

Joining these organizations became an avenue for Tita Joji to continue pursuing sports photography alongside fellow Ateneo alumni who share the same passion for the art. Although she only contributed 10 photos after her first coverage, she made her way up to becoming Senior Editor for the team. 

Since 2014, Tita Joji and her fellow photographers in Ateneo Sports Shooters and Fabilioh have gained popularity, with their work making them a staple for sourcing photos of Ateneo sports. Some of these organizations include the official social media pages of the Blue and White’s sports teams as well as different sports blogs and sites who have used her photos to accompany their posts. 

Beyond the lenses

Since she had no professional photography experience prior to her stints with Ateneo Sports Shooters and Fabilioh, Tita Joji aimed to improve her photos with every game she covered. She purchased higher quality cameras with better specifications to sharpen her skills. Although she once took photos to merely celebrate her memories, Tita Joji has turned her skill into a service to Ateneo sports. 

“People don’t realize that sports photography is not just holding a camera and clicking that shutter. You need to know the technical side of it, that every venue will have different settings. We [have to] understand what it takes to take good photos,” Tita Joji shared.

Despite Tita Joji’s success in recent years, her sports photography journey did not come without obstacles. Since her work with Fabilioh is purely voluntary, she shoulders the cost of investing in better quality cameras. Apart from the expensive equipment, Tita Joji also faced a number of other difficulties such as the worsening Metro Manila traffic and the difficulty of driving herself to venues outside Metro Manila.

“You know, the travel time of having to drive there and back after spending the whole day covering several matches, and you’re just really extremely fatigued,” she shared.

However, what pushes Tita Joji to keep going is her passion for capturing athletes’ record breaking moments on the court. “[The athletes are] the ones that make me fulfilled as a photographer, for having spent my time and energy and whatever talent that I have. That’s why we exist, for them to have proof of the best years of their lives as an athlete while in the university,” she said.

Because of her work, Tita Joji has developed deeper relationships with the athletes across different sports such as the AMBT’s Raffy Verano and the Ateneo Men’s Volleyball Team’s Joshua Villanueva, among many others. From having just two children, she has become a mother figure to a whole nest of Blue and Lady Eagles. She calls herself a stage tita, or a “pseudo-mama” to athletes, while they address her as their “Tita Joji.”

“It helps a lot if you’re friends with the subjects of your photograph. You get a bigger smile and a more natural pose. We don’t feel the awkwardness or tension in being with each other. We are just free to chat and talk as we would friends,” she shared.

Reminiscing and being hopeful

Although Tita Joji is considering retirement in the near future, she continues to dedicate herself to Ateneo sports. With no concrete plans yet for the upcoming UAAP season, Tita Joji is itching to hold her camera once again after the long break. Once the UAAP season resumes, she is willing to do whatever it takes to capture even just a frame of action and to be the lens between the Blue Eagles and the Ateneo community. “I’m willing to go and travel and stay away if only to take a shot or two of what’s going on and be able to share it with the community who won’t be able to watch it,” she said.