A typical 'promdi', his only wish was to set foot in Manila and to become famous. Twenty five years later, he continues to pursue bigger dreams. Only this time, he is in Auckland with a goal of excellence.

Jose "Pinggot" Vinluan Zulueta, 42, was an aspiring artist in the 70's. Despite financial difficulties, his parents enrolled him in the University of Santo Tomas--known for its fine arts education. Pinggot started painting landscapes and still life.

While in college, Pinggot was introduced to the art of editorial cartoon where opinions and views are expressed through a different medium -- comic strips.

He worked as a staff artist in their school organ,  " The Varsitarian." His exposure in the campus paper inspired him to pursue a career in the newspaper publication. There, he was introduced to a camera by his friend, Ernie Sarmiento who worked as the campus photographer.

It was also in the Varsitarian that Pinggot got his first byline.

" The first time my name appeared on the paper, ' baon-baon ko ito hanggang matulog'. I couldn't believe that a 'promdi kid' would become a part of a prestigious campus paper, " he recalled.

The late cartoonist Nonoy Marcelo gave him his first break as a professional cartoonist. His strips and editorials were published in the Manila Chronicle, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Abante, Midweek Magazine, Diyario Filipino, Bandera and Manila Times.

When he finished his course in fine arts, major in painting, and then a post graduate studies in UP in 1982, Pinggot got bored sitting at the drawing table, this fuelled him to decide to change careers and venture into news photography.

Virgilio Almario, editor-publisher of the defunct newspapers Diyario Filipino and Daily Globe ( who later became National Artist for Literature) took a chance on him in photography.

Apart from working with veteran lensman Ed Santiago as chief photographer, Zulueta came to work with yet another veteran editorial cartoonist Boy Togonon who advised him not to give up his love for drawing.

When the two papers folded up in 1993, Zulueta applied in the Manila Bulletin where he started as a photo correspondent, and later became staff photographer.

" It was with MB when my talent and skills as a photographer were further honed," he said.

Because of his hectic schedule as a photographer, his artistic side was set aside temporarily.

Zulueta became a familiar figure as a photographer, getting bylines for his photos taken for the front page and in the feature sections. He became known by his nickname ' Pinggot' .

" A friend who was then visiting in our province in Paniqui, Tarlac, gave me that funny alias. She said that the name 'Jose' was too common and so she tagged me as 'Pinggot' , Zulueta explained. 

As a visual artist and photographer, Pinggot mounted two one-man shows and participated in several group shows.

In 1997, Pinggot won first and third prizes in the ' Willie Vicoy Photojournalism Awards'; finalist in the 50th Art Association of the Philippines' art competition; and third prize in the 1980 landscape painting contest in UST.

In his second one-man show dubbed ' Asinta: Images and Imageries' held in the RCBC Plaza, Makati last year, Pinggot presented 50 digitally processed artworks which consisted of drawings and photographs selected from his collection of works over the years.

The images illustrated social commentaries on Philippine society. The works reflected images of poverty, human rights violations, political upheavals and protests of various kinds.

In January 2003, Zulueta together with his wife Vanessa and 16-year-old daughter Paula migrated in Auckland, New Zealand.

His decision to migrate was made to give his daughter a better quality of education, the very same opportunity that his parents gave him 25 years ago. His wife Vanessa is currently working with Oxfam New Zealand, as a programme manager for the Pacific region.

Recently, Zulueta represented the country in an art exhibition dubbed 'On Arrival' held in the Bashford Gallery in Ponsonby, New Zealand.

The exhibition gathered artists from Argentina, Brazil, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Columbia, England, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Kenya, Kosovo, Malaysia, Poland, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Somalia, Spain, Taiwan, Uganda, USA and Uruguay.

In his paintings, Zulueta interpreted his personal experiences as a migrant in an adopted land. The artworks are colorful and attractive, but they revealed a certain sadness and fear.

The human figures were surreal in form, with their skeletals shown, indicative of a migrant's struggles, challenges and unknown future in a foreign land.

" Basically, the paintings are a product of my imagination, they represent my very own feelings of uncertainty and fear. As migrants, we become alienated to an alien environment which explains why my compositions have no faces, they have lost their identities,, they have become a nobody," he explained.

" It has just been six months since we moved in Auckland, and this art exhibition gives me hope that I made all the right choices in life, that there's a better future for me and my family. There's so much I want to achieve in my life, I want to exhibit my works in different countries, not only in Auckland,'  Pinggot said.