Filipino photographer Gab Mejia travels the world to uncover its quiet, urgent stories.
Some people move through the world with a rare gift: the ability to see beyond what meets the eye. They sense the quiet stories humming beneath the surface, the invisible threads that bind places, people, and the natural world. Among them is queer Filipino photographer Gab Mejia, a visual poet whose work is less about capturing what is and more about revealing what lies beneath.
Though born in the Philippines, Gab’s gaze stretches far beyond its shores. He roams from forests to deserts, from volcano tops to deserted ice lands, gathering stories that speak to both the fragility and resilience of life on Earth. Through photography, research, and creative collaboration, he examines the entangled fates of nature and culture, confronting
the urgency of climate change, vanishing biodiversity, and threatened ancestral wisdom. It’s as if he’s always listening for the soul of a place, waiting for it to speak.
It’s a vision that has not only taken him across continents but also earned him global recognition. Gab brings this perspective to life through a remarkable body of work and an equally impressive list of honors: he is a National Geographic Explorer, a Climate Pledge Global Storyteller, a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a 2019 Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow, and a member of the Board of Trustees for World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines.
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Gab Mejia’s Global Life
Most recently, Gab held his first solo exhibition at Objectifs in Singapore—a moving showcase on the Philippine forests and the Bayland of Bukidnon. The moment was made even more powerful by the presence of Datu Arayan, the spiritual leader of the community.
From there, he journeyed to South Africa for a collaboration with his artist’s platform Emerging Islands, exploring stories that trace the path of water, working alongside photographers from Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia. Gab also experienced his first safari and diving in the Indian Ocean.
South Africa was followed by a brief chapter living in France, where Gab took part in a group exhibition at the Grand Palais in April, sharing the stories of the Guardians of the Marsh—indigenous protectors of the Agusan Marshlands, the Philippines’s largest inland wetland. While based in Paris, he worked on commissioned pieces and prepared new works for the Paris Photoclimat Biennale, which will be exhibited this September to October at La Concorde.
In between, he made his way to Barcelona, then to Berlin for the XPOSED Queer Film Festival, where he and his co-director Miko Reyes premiered Baradiya, a film they co-created with Datu Arayan and local artists. He also joined a panel at the United Nations SB62 in Bonn, where he spoke about the Philippine archipelago and the role of culture in climate negotiations.
Despite the whirlwind of projects, travel, and exhibitions, Gab still marvels at the path his life has taken. “I’ve never really imagined photography to become my profession growing up, and still, to this day, I somehow just recognize it as a continuous fragment that has shaped my life in magical yet terrifying ways,” he shares. “It’s some form of relationship, consuming in most parts and liberating with the other, especially as someone who has a difficult time communicating solely in words.”
Scroll down and you’ll see spreads of photographs that will bring you deeper into Gab’s world. Accompanied by his reflections, these images invite you to see through his eyes and listen a little more closely to the world around you.
“Photography allows me to speak in symbols and images, and share stories beyond language. It’s a medium that has been my vessel, which allows me to speak through the world, to fully experience and embrace moments, to bear witness to both beauty and terror.”
Gab Mejia
“Photography is an act of care in a changing world, where grief and silence echo across ecologies, creatures, and cultures that are slowly vanishing. Never in one place, never in one time. And I guess for me, it means to live as a continuum, in constant flux, change, and motion, in the in-betweens.”
Gab Mejia
“Home has never been a place, it’s where you are, the NOW, and to connect to home is to just connect with yourself in this now and to create a healthy relationship with yourself, your friends, family, and communities. Maintaining how your heart speaks about others is nurturing this connection with home.”
Gab Mejia
This article was originally published in our September 2025 Issue
Photography by Gab Mejia (unless specified)
