Inside Day Five of Vogue Threads Manila 2025

The fifth day of Vogue Threads Manila 2025 brings together Archie Geotina, Shaira Luna, Artu Nepomuceno, Neal Oshima, and Ryan Agoncillo to explore collaboration, craft, and the cultural role of photography.

Thursday at Vogue Threads Manila 2025 focuses on photography and the cultural significance of images. Archie Geotina and Shaira Luna, in discussion with Vogue Philippines editor Danyl Geneciran, share their journeys into editorial work and the communities that influenced their vision. They emphasize photography as a collaborative process, where trust between the subject and the storyteller shapes the final image. They also address the digital age, where images circulate widely, highlighting the importance of intention and authenticity as core principles.

In “Shaping Light,” photographers Artu Nepomuceno and Neal Oshima join art director Jann Pascua to unpack how light and composition transform documentation into visual storytelling. Oshima recalls the discipline required in the film era, while Nepomuceno speaks of his experience shooting Apo Whang-Od, choosing to “turn off the photographer in me and just be a grandson.” Together, they show how light and framing carry both technical and emotional weight, and how Filipino identity informs their way of seeing.

The day also features “The Camera, A Passport to Life’s Journey,” with Ryan Agoncillo. He traces his love for moving and still images back to suburban cinemas of the 1980s. Both remind the audience that photographs are not only technical records but also deeply personal acts of witnessing, shaped by choice, perspective, and presence.