Notecards to Mother Earth: Photographers Celebrate Earth Day

What message would you send back to the earth?

Every April, Earth Day calls on us to reflect on the beauty and fragility of our planet. In the Philippines, where nature weaves itself into the rhythm of daily life, our landscapes are both sanctuary and story. Within our pages, the country’s natural beauties take center stage: in the foggy streets of Baguio, in the warm fields of Bukidnon, in the majestic mountaintops of Batanes. As the effects of the climate crisis grow harder to ignore, the work of photographers and artists become even more vital. More than just image-making, photography of the natural world reminds us, Earth’s inhabitants, just what is worth protecting.

Vogue Philippines invited five photographers, Jacob Maentz, Gab Mejia, Gabriel Nivera, Cru Camara, and Andie Remulla, to share their personal favorite photographs of Philippine landscapes, along with personal messages of gratitude.

Jacob Maentz

“You give so generously—shade, food, breath, beauty.
Gratitude alone isn’t enough.
I offer this life in return:
To listen when you speak through rustling leaves,
to give more than I take,
to live as kin—not as owner,
not only in feeling but in practice.”

Gab Mejia

“There are days, when I ask what mother would want?
Staering at the moon in some unbroken night, maybe this is the only shoulder in space where she can lean her shadow?

There are days when I ask what she feels?
Can change be an emotion, that maybe the world has no language for?

Maybe she too, has her dreams and intentions?
The ones she had for herself when she was still a child.
Some songs and chants and friendly spirits too.

There are days when I ask what mother carries?
Maybe some mountains, and oceans, tears, and rivers, seasons and years.
Oh how some days, they get heavy too.

And among all these questions, there is but one that maybe need not be asked.
Who she loves?
yet still she answers;
There are days.”

Gabriel Nivera

“Farewell, my adored Land,
region of the sun caressed,

Pearl of the Orient Sea,
our Eden lost!”

From “Mi Último Adiós” by José Rizal

Cru Camara

“I am thankful to feel small in the vastness of nature, and to remember that being human is to be part of it too.”

Andie Remulla

“It was a full moon on this day.
The tide was coming up and the water was alive.
Corals bloomed in bright greens and yellows,
The fish were endless,
swimming against strong current.
I was too!
It was lively, it was perfect.
You teach me something new every time
and I remain curious.”

Introduction by CELINE LAGUNDI. Photographs courtesy of JACOB MAENTZ, GAB MEJIA, GABRIEL NIVERA, CRU CAMARA, and ANDIE REMULLA. Digital Associate Editor: Chelsea Sarabia. Art by Bea Lu. Digital multimedia artist: Myc Priestley.