Phase to Face

A portrait of the in-between.

The Factory opens its doors to the public as husband-and-wife Ed and Dawn Abella cut the ribbon.

We opened The Factory Studio with Phase to Face. There was a ribbon cutting, some cocktails, a few speeches—but what really mattered was what were on the walls.

The show was made up of work I had built quietly over the years. Some of it personal. Some of it commissioned. Some of it made during seasons when I wasn’t even sure I could still call myself a photographer. But they all belonged in the same room. Not because they fit together perfectly, but because they came from the same place.

There were polaroids of everyday things—moments I hadn’t planned to frame, but did. Images from the time I lived in a small pad in Divisoria that doubled as a studio. Rent was cheap. I was always trying to catch good light through windows that weren’t made for it. I barely had anything—but I was making work that felt like mine, and that was enough.

Some photos were of Dawn, my wife. Some were of her pregnancy, and the quiet hours before and after we became parents. These weren’t planned shoots. They were part of the life we were building. I took them the way you’d grab a notebook when something hits you—you don’t wait, you just document.

I included portraits from my commercial and editorial projects too. Shoots where the creative direction aligned with what I believed in. Photos of queer friends, artists, musicians—people who made me want to slow down and look closer. There wasn’t a checklist or a theme. These were images that stayed with me. The ones that still say something when I go back to them.

There was a period of silence. After returning from the States, meeting my biological family, and losing my father, I stepped away from photography. It didn’t feel like something I was allowed to keep doing. There were bills, expectations, and grief that sat heavy. I tried to put everything creative aside and just survive. But something in me kept pulling back.

Dawn helped me remember what I was good at—and why I cared about it in the first place.

With the guidance of Sir Chris Gomez—curator, artist, and designer who has long championed Mindanao’s creative community—Phase to Face took shape as more than just a solo exhibit.

Phase to Face was never meant to be a showcase. It was a reminder. That even in the blur of years and distractions and grief and small wins—this work remained. And now, it had a home.

The exhibit marked the start of The Factory, not just as a studio, but as a space for that kind of remembering. A place where images are made with intention. A place where people feel seen—not staged, not fixed—just honestly seen.

This is where the next work begins.

— Ed Abella
Founder & Photographer, The Factory Studio