Interview Patrick Kasingsing
Images Everywhere We Shoot and Aesop (Geranium Leaf)
Welcome to Kanto, Everywhere We Shoot! You’ve been in the business for more than two decades, propelled by a vision and execution of photography with a surrealist streak. What’s one photography subject or concept that has so far still eluded your grasp?
Ryan and Garovs Vergara, Everywhere We Shoot: Hello Pat! Thank you! Wow! Two decades! We still feel like we’re just beginning. Every subject we work on feels like our first time, especially collaborating with Aesop! The imagery of Aesop as a brand shares a similar aesthetic with the work of our idols, artists from the 90s to 2000s who experimented with striking colors and black and white photos. It made us realize we have yet to shoot our own black and white imagery!
Let’s talk about your collaboration with Aesop for their Geranium Leaf campaign. The Geranium range is one of the brand’s stalwart lines, sitting on their shelves for 27 years. What led to your concept of crumpled paper impressions of the product line in its signature green shade? Were there other ideas considered before you landed on this approach?
Everywhere We Shoot: The Geranium Leaf line is an Aesop classic, so we wanted it to pop! We used its signature evergreen shade and then let people figure out for themselves how it expressed Aesop’s Geranium Leaf. We aimed to depict an explosion of evergreen, highlighting how the simple indication of the bottle, with its amber glass, instantly brings to mind Aesop and the sense of calm in one’s home.
The biggest challenge for us is editing down the concepts—we’re constantly overflowing with ideas. But the collaborative part of the process, like working with the calm and composed folks behind Aesop, is where the magic truly happens. It’s been a pleasure; the entire creation experience was so enjoyable and rewarding!
Stepping into an Aesop store is always like entering a new dimension, one that quiets our senses, and our minds float away. We tell everyone, if you need a break from your hectic lifestyle, go into any Aesop store; it’s like getting a mental massage! It’s this same sensation we wanted our photo series to draw.
What aspect or qualities of the Geranium Leaf range leapt out at you and proved pivotal to the resulting work? Viewing the photos, there’s that trademark EWS nonchalance toward brand guidelines: we can’t even see the Aesop labels! But the shapes and shade of the containers are iconic enough that they still evoke the brand effectively.
Everywhere We Shoot: Aesop consistently conveys gratitude and kindness through its imagery and the way its advertisements engage with our minds. Our aim has always been to encourage viewers to think for themselves and interpret things in their way, rather than spoonfeeding them. It’s not about being rebellious or nonchalant, but about guiding one to a state of mind where you understand life and what’s before you without being told what to see. Ultimately, this leads to a sense of gratitude and kindness.
Photography today is both thrilling and fraught. As creatives who’ve pursued photography and film for over two decades, both professionally and personally, what keeps you excited about the craft? And what has remained your absolute non-negotiable with every photo you take?
Everywhere We Shoot: We believe we’ve barely scratched the surface and are still super hyped to explore the how, what, and why of the world, especially with the new generation leading the way! Everything seems new again in their view!
Your new space, Under Maintenance, feels like a natural extension of your ethos: surprise, delight, and a hunger for experimentation. What inspired you to open a physical space after years of working across mediums? What kinds of uses or collaborations do you envision for it? And who would be your dream exhibitor to take over the space?
Everywhere We Shoot: Oh! Nice question! It made us think of why we opened. And now we realize we don’t have a lot of long-term goals for it; we want it to be guided by our present thoughts and feelings. Our work and personal lives always seemed to be about the future and the past, so it makes sense that “Under Maintenance,” and even its name, is about us all being “under maintenance.” It’s about what we need to maintain, be under, or sustain. We’ll figure it out as we live in the present!
As for our dream exhibitor? Aesop and Dover Street Market!
To embrace the concept of constant rebuilding and remaking…that’s a fine way to end this short chat! Thank you so much for your time, Ryan and Garovs! •
The Geranium Leaf line is now available in all Aesop Philippines stores and online.
Visit aesopskincare.ph for more information.
