Through His Eyes
Photographer, author, Instagram influencer and now Youtube sensation, BJ Pascual seems to be unstoppable
BJ Pascual is a commercial and editorial photographer who has made an indelible mark in the Philippines. Pascual has a bright personality and can command a room, not only because he has become a celebrity in his own right, but also because he knows exactly what he is doing, and is great at it too. He describes his highly sought-after editorial signature as “heavily influenced by classic portraiture combined with fashion, art, film, queer and pop culture references—with a dose of camp”.
Pascual takes his work personally and gets as involved as possible, sharing a bit of himself with every project. Throughout his career, he says that he has become more deliberate with his choices at shoots, underscoring how particular he is about fashion, hair and makeup. “Before I’d let the editor/creative director/ stylist decide everything. Now I really try to take control of the situation by making sure the concept is tight, and aligning with the whole team before the shoot. This way, when I go into a shoot, and it doesn’t work out, there’s no one to blame but myself.”
His intense love for art and fashion began when he was a child. “I’ve always been into creative things, although it wasn’t really encouraged since I come from a family of lawyers, doctors, businesspeople. Yet I would have notebooks filled with Sailor Moon drawings, [not then aware that] the costumes were based on actual haute couture pieces from Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Mugler, Lacroix, etc,” he shares.
From that starting point, Pascual moved onto photography in high school and never looked back. His childhood fascination grew into the love of his life. To young talents looking to pursue the same path, he says: “don’t not lose sight of who you are as a creative”.