Today is the last day of PRIDE. It is more than a parade or celebration. It is a month-long affair to amplify and resolve pertinent LGBTQI+ issues such as equality and inclusion in our humankind.

Everytime I see viral videos of LGBTQI+ members, especially the young ones who are in funny clips (for example; dancing in the street sexually or beauty pageant as a laughing stock), I also ask myself — is this a good way to portray our community?

It is entertaining. Yes. However, I also believe that when we nurture a society prevalent of these portrayals, we should also (much more) nurture a society where LGBTQI+ members are commended and honoured (shared on social media) for their great contributions, in all sectors, to our nation.

When we promote and highlight inspiring stories from the LGBTQI+ community, we inculcate a sense of pride, that the LGBTQI+ members do and can represent well (and admiringly) in all aspects of our lives. We gradually progress as a society — informed, aware and welcoming — until such time when there is no need to heed the call for representation and inclusion, until such time when it becomes a norm.

It’s Father’s Day! I wonder how it feels to have a father. Really.

You see, I was born without a father. He died when I was less than a year old. Three months, I was told.

I never saw him, not even in a picture. My mom lost all the photographs. Family members and neighbours said that I could see him if I looked at myself in the mirror. He was me, I am him kind of story – a physical replica of myself. Perhaps, I can talk to him, to myself. But that will appear and sound strange, right?

Growing up, I never felt the lack of having a father. How would I know when I never had one?

In our world now, when all genders can be men, all genders can be fathers, do we need a specific (exclusive) term to celebrate fatherhood and paternal relationships, culture? In the meantime, Happy Father’s Day to everyone.

It took a decade for me to be able to do a shoot for American Vogue. I love it. It came as a surprise at the most unexpected time — in my hiatus as a fashion photographer and when I have already accepted the idea that I may need to move on and start a new journey (career).

Indeed, the whole universe conspires to make our dream a reality. I am on cloud nine. I am over the moon.

Here are select magazine works all the way from 2015.

https://models.com/people/onin-lorente

I was invited by Fashion And Market, a multimedia platform that presents specialist content on Southeast Asian fashion, to write a short essay about LINEAL and its third issue.

Somewhere in Central Europe, it is 5:30 p.m. In New York, it is 11:30 a.m. It is 12:30 a.m. where I live. I am sitting in the same spot where I started LINEAL, a digital publication I founded in December 2020, where the theme of BORDERLESS for its third issue was born.

LINEAL is a passion project with the vision to underline creativity from the region of Southeast Asia. It is a product of collaborations. I spearhead and do most of the tasks, from conceptualising the theme, discovering inspiring talents and faces to tapping writers and managing the website. Together with two guest editors, I finalise the articles.

For the past ten years, I have lived on three different continents as a fashion photographer. I produced shoots for magazines such as Esquire Singapore and Vogue Taiwan, for the time that I was in New York and London. Other days, it was the opposite; I organised shoots in Cambodia for Vogue Portugal and Esquire Spain. But since last year when the pandemic started, I haven’t been able to travel. The pause allowed me to reflect. It dawned on me profoundly — creativity knows no boundary. I am somewhere in the province of the Philippines where very few (or perhaps none) are aware and interested in the news that Daniel Lee left Bottega Veneta, or that Vogue global editions have been undergoing consolidations. Yet, the digital world offered me an alternative way of producing stories with fellow creatives, beyond geographical borders. 

In Indonesia, Abdul Razzak Jauhar creates a photo story that emphasises the relationship between life and death, while in Cambodia, the tension between architectural heritage and modernity is the subject of Mao Sovanchandy’s picture series. In Paris, Rukpong Raimaturapong pays homage to his Thai roots for his latest fashion collection, while in New York, Charlene Almarves contemplates her decade-long journey as a model hailing from the Philippines. Those stories are proof that we are all interconnected, despite different existence or perspectives. They define the meaning of BORDERLESS.

Southeast Asian talents are remarkable. LINEAL’s hope is to champion them. Since its maiden issue, the magazine has featured at least thirty artists. Each of them creates outstanding works. Each work has an inspiring narrative —- where I, and perhaps you, and everyone can associate with. Take for instance a documentary tackling how the pandemic affected trans women in Indonesia by photographer Poppy Pieter, or an exclusive conversation with Jasmine Tuan, a fashionista and shopaholic from Singapore who became a zero-waste advocate. LINEAL amplifies voices on matters that are relevant to our society.

At this time when we are reminded that our world is small, it is an apt and kind act to celebrate the creativity of the people in our home.

In case you missed it, our LINEAL cover story featured New York-based model Charlene Almarvez. She is one of my muses.

Every now and then, when we are in the same city, New York or London, Charlene and I would reconnect over a shoot or dance. Charlene loves to dance and she’s a head-turner. I remember when we were clubbing in London — at that time she dyed her hair blonde and she looked absolutely divine — random stylish youths approached her expressing their compliments. On that same evening, while walking along the street of Soho, some folks opened the window of their car yelling their admiration. She was stunning!

Aside from sharing moves on the dance floor, Charlene and I would exchange stories. We were on the same boat, we were sailing on the same sea — I as a fashion photographer, she as a fashion model. We were both from the provinces of the Philippines, living by ourselves in the fashion capitals of the world. She spoke of the hardship of withstanding the pressure from the cut-throat modelling industry, coupled with the loneliness of living by herself. She moved to New York at the age of sixteen! And how ultimately she found happiness by staying true to herself, and how friendships make her life sweeter.

From coveted shows for Suno, Lacoste, Diane von Furstenberg in 2010 when she started, to her last shows for Brandon Maxwell, Laquan Smith and Area; from the pages of Vogue, Interview, and Elle, she continues to inspire as one of the most successful Southeast Asian faces in the fashion industry.

Charlene epitomises personal triumph in life, beyond borders.

Here, I photographed Charlene in Primrose Hill, London in 2017 for Reserved Magazine.

You may read her story at Charlene Almarvez Embodies The Idea Of “Borderless”