Nature & Manifesto with Gaia Bernabe-Belvis
Name, age, where are you from, what format you like using, what are you currently working on if you are?
Gaia Bernabe-Belvis, 23 (she/her), born and raised in the Philippines but currently living in Berlin. I love using the 6x6 format at the moment! Currently, I am working on an untitled project that is heavily based on Dani D’Emilia and Daniel Chávez’s Radical Tenderness manifesto.
What about your surroundings/environments and upbringing interested you?
I grew up in a household where watching movies every Friday night is a must, and being exposed to different types of movies flourished my photography style. For some reason I frequently pay homage to the styles of directors Sofia Coppola, Lino Brocka, and David Lynch in my works. I am also deeply inspired by music, different bodies of nature, tenderness, femininity, and motherhood.
When was the first time you met photography? How did you feel when you met it?
Roughly at the age of 7. When my grandpa showed me his Pentax and his box full of pictures from when he worked in Japan. I was intrigued by the idea that you can replicate what you see in real life through a photograph. There were also not many images of me when I was a child so I used the camera as a mirror back then. Now that I think of it, maybe my first photo series was a collection of selfies haha
Tell us about a personal photo project. Is this story inspired out of personal reasons, or others?
A recent series of mine titled ‘Roots of the Earth’ was created after encountering this wonderful quote from Mahmoud Darwish’s Journal of an Ordinary Grief:
“A place is not only a geographical area; it’s also a state of mind. And trees are not just trees, they are the ribs of childhood.”
After a brief encounter with an old lady in Bavaria back in 2022, she explained to me the concept of the muladhara chakra—an energy center located at the base of our spines. This energy is associated with stability, security, and grounding. Both Darwish and the root chakra served as my inspiration for this series because they resonate with my personal experiences of relocating to different countries over the last three years. This project reopened some wounds, yet it also healed me in ways that only photography can. Moving to an unfamiliar country put me in a fight-or-flight response, and the only thing that felt safe was walking among trees. It provided me with emotional strength; therefore, photographing portraits of trees is my way of expressing gratitude to these bodies of nature.
What are lessons you have learned when doing the project?
‘Roots of the Earth’ is the first project where I strictly used the 6x6 format. I used to mix analog and digital in my past projects, but I promised myself to commit to one format this time. It was very fun to think of the composition for the photos, breaking the notion that the square format is very limiting.
This series also taught me that I am safe, I am seen, and I am protected.
How did you find your visual literacy? Why are you attracted to certain images more than others?
I am a deeply emotional person. I usually look for images that startle, resonate, or intrigue me. I am often intertwined with images that show tenderness because I need to feel it. To feel these types of images means to keep practicing this craft. My intuition always directs me to images that feel like a warm hug.
Imagine meeting someone who is picking up a camera for the first time. What do you tell them?
Take lots of pictures. Lots. We only have one life. Photography is the only art form that can freeze time so exhaust all of it. I know it is important to just simply experience but to be able to photograph those moments is a little souvenir from life.