“Habitual Exposure” — a photography exhibit unveiled at Chaya Legarda Restaurant for the Ibagiw Gastro x Art Creative Crawl 2025 last November 15 — brings together the worlds of two renowned Cordillera artists: photographer Tommy Hafalla and artist–curator Kawayan De Guia.
Featuring work studies from 1978–2011, the collection reveals decades of landscapes, lives, and cultures captured through Tommy’s lens. What makes this exhibit even more compelling is how time—and even mold—became collaborators. Film imperfections evolved into organic patterns, transforming what many would call “damage” into unexpected beauty.
During the launch, the artists shared insights behind the exhibit:
Kawayan spoke about the intimacy of Tommy’s work prints:
“They are small, but when I am looking at the work now, it’s like entering these landscapes, these worlds, people, and culture.”
He also shared how his creative process blurs mediums:
“I was talking about scratching, drawing, writing… somehow I managed to cross the threshold between the photograph, the drawing, the thought.”
Drawing inspiration from Tommy and “the OGs” of film like Kidlat Tahimik, he adds with a laugh:
“If not for them, where would I be? Idol ko si Tommy—ever since!”
Kawayan’s approach embraces the unexpected:
“Most photographers would say ‘nasira yung image ko,’ but when I saw mold on the film, I said—iba ito. Beautiful.”
He now intentionally exposes film to Baguio’s elements, letting nature shape the outcome.
His “doodles” on the photographs emerged from a decade of speed-drawing:
“I’m not a writer, but writing—words—just grew out of that momentum.”
Among the scribbles: “jazz music, whiskey, friends, silence… talismans… a sharp eye… and a perfect moment to press the button.”
Tommy, reflecting on his decades-long archive, shared how it all began:
A trip to Mt. Pulag with his brother during a medical mission sparked everything.
“When I got there, it snapped—how can I record all this? The majestic Cordillera? I can’t paint or write (at that time)…so I decided on photography, which is a more realistic medium for them. It started like a diary, and I’ve been recording, first the landscape and decided, why not the people?” What started as a visual diary of landscapes naturally expanded to the people—those from the ethnolinguistic communities he grew up around.
Come visit Chaya Legarda and experience these ‘perfectly imperfect’ photographs and works of art by Kawayan De Guia and Tommy Hafalla — where the process and philosophy of the art of photography as a habit are exposed. Be exposed to the stories of image-making developed from mold and sun that takes to a different time and place.