Who's This Photographer Whose Profile Picture You've Seen (and Maybe Shared) on Facebook?
His profile picture has been shared more than 188,000.
(SPOT.ph) UPDATE: A freelance photographer's profile picture made rounds on Facebook over the weekend, with a viral message for the online community to support: Avail his photo services in exchange of his transportation fees plus any amount they can afford to pay him, just so he could raise funds for his sick child and his mother, whose house in Bohol was razed in a fire.
His name is Alexander Amora Juni, a 49-year-old freelance photographer from Sucat, Parañaque whose humble appeal touched the hearts of social media users, who shared his photo more than 188,000 times in less than four days.
"During these days, I don't give specific prices for the photo services that I do. I accept how much the client can afford to give. Just pay for my fare from Sucat going to the venue at give how much you could afford," he said.
"I am doing this to support my son's medicines who is diagnosed of (sic) Duchenne muscular dystrophy and for my mom who was affected of fire incident."
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Meet Alexander Juni, the viral freelance photographer on Facebook
Juni, a former medical representative who made a living selling medical equipment, started offering his services as a freelance photographer in 2019. His works are mainly liturgical, but he also covers graduation headshots, prenup shoots, and wedding coverages. Juni, who is also a church lector-commentator like his wife, told SPOT.ph that he could shoot anything except for nude.
The couple are parents to four kids: Axl, Ave, Andre, and Angel.
His eldest, Axl, and his youngest, Angel, were diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, considered one of the most common hereditary neuromuscular disease and one of the most severe forms of muscular dystrophies where the skeletal and heart muscles progressively weaken over time. Those diagnosed with DMD have weakness in the shoulder or pelvis, have difficulty going up the stairs, can't jump, walk on tip-toe, experience leg pain, and exhibit facial weakness, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Symptoms often appear before the age of six, and it mainly affects males. There's no cure yet for those who have DMD, and it is "ultimately fatal," according to Cleveland Clinic.
Axl passed away in 2019.
"[He was diagnosed] at the age of nine years old—he fought for eight years—Namatay siya at the age of 17," he said in an interview with SPOT.ph.
A few months after Axl died, Angel, 9, was diagnosed with DMD. The Juni family awaits the "miracle of healing" for their 11-year-old bunso, the photographer said.
Freelancing isn't a stable job, and during the pandemic, business was weak.
"Humina po, ang hina po. Ang mahal po ng gamot para bigyan siya ng P3,000 a week to prolong his life," he said.
"Father po ako, obligasyon ko bigyan ang anak ko. Ito lang po trabaho ko, as long as wala naman akong ginagawang masama e."
While dealing with Angel's condition, he received news that the family's ancestral home in Candijay, Bohol burned down on May 13. An electrical short circuit was seen as the possible cause of the fire that engulfed the ancestral home, The Bohol Chronicle reported. While all their belongings perished in the fire, his mother, Ines, is safe but in need of supplies, clothes, and financial help to start again, he said.
Desperate for a solution, he sought help from God and his late child.
"Bago ako nag-post [sa Facebook], nagpaalam ako doon sa anak ko. Pumunta ako sa sementeryo. Sabi ko 'Anak, tulungan mo naman ako kasi nasunog bahay ni lola mo, Mother's Day sunog as in walang naiwan'," he said.
"'Yang si Axl, very helpful po 'yan since namatay siya, dami n'ya tinulungan. Nagpaalam ako, 'Axl, tulungan mo ako.'"
In his post, he let his potential clients to pay him how much they could afford.
"Kung magpepresyo ako, ang tendency kasi aatras ang mga tao. Naghahanap ng bargain ang mga tao ngayon dahil sa pandemic, may mga tao talagang walang-wala."
He was at a graduation shoot when he saw that his post got shared 48 times. In just a few hours, it blew up to 76,000 shares. On his way home, his family told him it was nearing 100,000 shares.
"Ano'ng nangyari, sabi ko, bakit ganun? I'm not asking for money or financial matters. To make it short, I'm asking na bigyan nila ako ng pagkakataon na magtrabaho kasi pag may trabaho, may kikitain ka, may bibigay ka sa family mo."
As of our interview, Juni has yet to open the thousands of messages that flooded his inbox. His calendar was booked until December, with events from all over the Philippines. In fact, in June, he only has three days of rest.
While there are job offers too, he said he would rather stick to freelancing.
"Binubuhat ko si Angel araw-araw 'pag nandon ako sa Manila. At my age, I'm already 49, mas happy ako sa ginagawa ko kasi ako lang, sarili ko nasusunod. Follow ko customers ano sasabihin then I'll do ano instructions."
Aside from offering his photography services, the family also sells Roman Missal, or book of prescribed prayers and instructions for mass, for Angel's daily medication. A father's got to do what a father's got to do, he said.
"Very thankful po ako unang-una kay Lord, kay Axl, sa mga taong tumutulong, kumo-contact sa akin. 'Di naman ako popular na tao, simpleng tao lang naman ako."
"Basta importante po sa akin, think positive, wala kang ginagawang masama. 'Yun lang po."
For those who want to extend help, you may contact Alexander Juni via Facebook.
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