Space Encounters’ “Capture and Release” features seven photographers whose contemplative works transform everyday moments into compelling forms and narratives.
Photography has long been used as a means of preservation or record-keeping. It counters the ephemeral nature of life, freezing a subject at a particular moment, holding it in a place untouched by time. Yet even these static images contain a life of their own, shaped by the perspectives of their photographers and viewers. In its recent group exhibition, Capture and Release, Space Encounters Gallery invites audiences into a spectrum of human experiences with introspections on solitude, transitions, and the spaces in between. Across its diverse voices, the exhibition explores what it means to hold on to a moment and let it evolve into meaning.
From monochromatic, textural landscapes to close-ups of simple kitchen ingredients, Capture and Release features the engaging works of seven photographers, namely Cru Camara, Toto Labrador, JL Javier, Johann Guasch, Ed Simon, Ulap Chua, and Curtis Richard.
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Cru Camara
Cru Camara’s study of color and sequence sparks a poignant dialogue between blue and green hues that echo Miles Davis’ famous jazz piece Blue in Green. “Blue recedes into distant memory,” they reflect, “While green emerges with urgent vitality, embodying a possibility of renewal.”

Camara’s triptychs reveal the melancholic beauty of transition, exploring impermanence through the interplay of shadow and gesture, where each ending carries the seed of a new beginning.

Toto Labrador
In The In Between, Toto Labrador spotlights stillness through the quiet spaces between life’s significant moments. “The intervals that seem empty are where I spend most of my time,” he explains. Labrador’s works shed light on the things often overlooked in day-to-day life, showcasing how even the quotidian can hold profound meaning.



JL Javier
JL Javier’s works explore Nevada’s vast desert landscapes, pointing out both the enormity of this world and the smallness of their place in it—a perspective that is meant to be a source of solace to the photographer. “It was not despair [I felt], but comfort and peace,” they share. Through layered collages, Javier pieces fragments of memory, mapping out a personal geography where smallness becomes a place to dream.



Johann Guasch
Macro photography turns Johann Guasch’s subjects into sprawling, textural forms. Delving into the liminal space between the intimate and infinite, the photographer encourages viewers to find vastness in the minutiae, where subtle details can evoke entire worlds.


Ed Simon
Ed Simon takes simple vegetables as his subjects, rendering them in black and white to focus on their sculptural elegance. With a Linhoft 4×5 camera, the photographer focuses on contrast and the details. “By reducing the visual elements to their essentials, I reveal the intricate beauty often hidden in the everyday,” he states.


Ulap Chua
Ulap Chua’s Solitude is Quietude examines the paradoxes of loneliness. “I hold so many dear, yet at times, I feel utterly alone,” the photographer shares. Images of places, people, and even animals reflect the calm found amid the chaos, and the comfort found in introspection, pointing out people’s inherent need for companionship as well as the value to be found in quiet solitude.



Curtis Richard
Curtis Richard captures moments of his travels through his Hasselblad 500C/M, rendering them into black and white images. His destinations included Singapore and Bali, both brimming with “vibrant and generous souls,” as he describes.




“Each image embodies the unique energy and essence of these vibrant locations,” Curtis explains. The acute awareness he has of both subjects and their relationship to their environment is apparent in every shot, the visual narrative emphasized through strong lighting and composition.
As a whole, Capture and Release reminds us that photography serves a purpose beyond documentation. It is also a medium of transformation, capable of not only capturing moments, but also re-configuring and re-imagining them as stories that resonate in ways that transcend their visual forms.
“Catch and Release” runs for the entirety of January 2025 in Space Encounters, located at Unit 7D, Padilla Building, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas, Pasig. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.
Photos courtesy of Space Encounters.