Shaping Light: Inside Vogue Threads Manila 2025’s Photography Session with Artu Nepomuceno and Neal Oshima

Photographers Neal Oshima and Artu Nepomuceno joined art director Jann Pascua for a session on how light and composition work together to turn images into powerful narratives.

Inside a room filled with photographers, editors, and young creatives at Vogue Threads Manila 2025, the art of photography took the spotlight in a session designed to illuminate its most essential principles. But in this space, the panel felt more like a reunion. “We’re used to being behind the lens,” Artu Nepomuceno laughs, glancing at the veteran photographer Neal Oshima and moderator Jann Pascua beside him. “For one, to be able to sit here and talk to everyone, that’s really something. And secondly, we’ve been hustling for so many years, and suddenly now we’re on the map, and people look to us for ideas, which is remarkable.”

Known for his evocative style and decades of experience in the industry, Oshima speaks on the power of light to reveal subtlety. At the same time, Nepomuceno, whose work is marked by cinematic precision, emphasizes the role of composition in guiding the viewer’s eye. Together, they break down how these two elements work in tandem to transform a photograph from mere documentation into visual storytelling. That sense of vision is what anchors the conversation. Artu spoke about collaboration as a sustaining force, echoing a recurring theme from an earlier masterclass with Archie Geotina and Shaira Luna. “It really takes a village,” he says. “But it’s not just a village, it’s a family.” His friendships with fellow photographers have been shaped by countless shoots, long nights, and shared struggles, reminding him that creativity thrives within a community.

The conversation then moves between theory and practice, with both photographers sharing examples from their own careers where a shift in light or framing completely altered the outcome of an image. Guests were reminded that light is not simply illumination but a tool to sculpt form and mood, and that composition is the architecture through which meaning is built.

Oshima recalls being asked by Vogue Philippines to shoot an editorial in Davao featuring models of diverse genders and body types. “I hadn’t been shooting fashion, mostly doing my art,” he says. “But it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable shoots I’ve done.” Working alongside Mark Nicdao, they alternated frames and adjusted lighting for one another, collaborating closely with the Vogue team; eventually reigniting his passion for fashion photography.

The conversation soon turned to lighting; the foundation of their craft. “Photography literally means drawing with light, meaning no light, no photo,” Artu explains. He shares the story of photographing Apo Whang-Od for Vogue Philippines’ April 2023 cover, where, after a 16-hour journey, they had only half an hour to shoot. The team improvised backgrounds and lighting setups on the spot, careful not to move Whang-Od unnecessarily. His solution was to “turn off the photographer in me and just be a grandson, and photograph her like she’s my lola.”

Oshima, who began his career in the days of shooting on film and spending hours in dark rooms, explains how those limitations shaped his approach. “You had to light really carefully because the film only had a certain range, you couldn’t get both shadow and highlight detail,” he says. He begins recounting a shoot for another local fashion magazine that began with a surrealist concept and ended with a splash of milk captured midair, noting how improvisation using a single shadow cast across the model’s face became the defining element of the photograph.

The panel also explored what it means to have a Filipino eye. “To be Filipino means to be home,” Artu shared, recalling a question posed to him by the Obama Foundation after the release of Vogue Philippines’ Whang-Od cover. “The whole country is our home,” Neal echoes. And by the close of the session, participants left not only with practical insights but also with a renewed appreciation for the discipline of photography. It reinforced the idea that compelling images rely on more than instinct, as they are constructed with intention, and understanding how these elements in tandem can elevate what is seen into something felt.

By GABRIEL YAP. Photographs by ANIKEN DELA CRUZ. Digital associate editor: Chelsea Sarabia. Producer: Bianca Zaragoza. Multimedia artists: Bea Lu, Myc Priestley.