Marked: The Gangs of Baseco

Vicente Jaime “Veejay” Villafranca (b. 1982 Philippines) was amongst 
seven Filipinos to be accepted in the first Asian documentary workshop 
of the Angkor photography festival in Siem Reap, Cambodia. After 
freelancing in 2006, he worked with international wire agencies such as Agence France Presse, Reuters,
World Picture Network and the United Nations IRIN news wire.

His
 project about the lives of former gang members in one of Manila’s 
dangerous slums, BASECO compound, garnered the 2008 Ian Parry
Scholarship grant in London. He is also the recipient of the 2007-2008
 Asian Center for Journalism Photojournalism program in partnership
with the World Press Photo Foundation, the 2nd artist to hold residence in the Crossing Point program held in Perpignan, France. His images has been shown in 
London, Lithuania, Hongkong, Phnom Pehn, France, Portugal, Norway, Turkey and Manila.


Veejay is represented by Getty Global Assignments in London and Asia Motion in the Asian and French markets.
His ongoing projects evolve around the Filipino faith, the concept of
 reserved space for ethnic tribes in the Philippines, and illegal refugees in Southeast
 Asia apart from his project with the gangs and the continuously changing social and political landscape of his country