This photo installation of Lita R. Puyat’s timeless, artistic images captures the essence of her body of work from the 90s and 2000s
It was a wonderful turn of events when Lita R. Puyat was invited by Jeannie Javelosa, director of the Yuchengco Museum at RCBC Plaza, to create an installation of large-scale photographs. RADIANCE: a photo installation by LITA R. PUYAT, currently running until June 27 at the RCBC Plaza courtyard, was the result of a chance encounter between the two, who had worked together decades ago.
It gave Puyat a chance to revisit her works from the 90s and 2000s, when she enjoyed a burgeoning photography career that spanned fashion, advertising, portraiture and fine art.
Puyat’s photographs blazed trails in major print ad campaigns, fashion stories for glossy magazines, portraits personalities and families, or self-assigned personal work for exhibition. Today, she is still complimented by those who remember particular images from her large body of work. This is truly remarkable, considering she shuttered her photography studio twenty years ago to pursue other ventures.
RADIANCE features five black and white large-scale outdoor prints from her earliest work from 1990-1994. Model Apples Aberin is seen at the CO2 tank of the Pepsi plant in Muntinlupa. This was Puyat’s very first fashion shoot in 1992 for Mega magazines, after which many more poured in for the major glossies of the time. In late afternoon light, Aberin leans against the tank, which echoes the metallic silver of her belt and the bugle beads of Frederick Peralta’s dress with a 40s silhouette.
Another image features a closeup portrait of twins Andrea and Cristina Perlas at age sixteen. This photo was made in Puyat’s basement studio in 1990, before she opened her professional space. Identical faces are deep in thought with eyes mysteriously shut, asking the viewer to make their own conclusions about why, or what they are thinking. The photo is haunting and memorable.
In a black serpentine two-piece gown by Carla Sibal, model Yvette Bautista is seen from a low angle. The lighting is classic Hollywood glamour and the photograph, which was shot in 1994 for a magazine fashion story, has a timeless elegance.
There are two photographs of model and beauty icon Melanie Marquez, part of a touring exhibition in 1993 to several cities and provinces, commissioned by Playtex. The full shot of Melanie in a sinamay black cape against a stark white background is graphically striking. A poetic closeup of Marquez in the water, with her reflection disturbingly distorted is aptly entitled “The Secret of Her Other Self.”
It was a joy for Puyat to unearth the negatives from her archives, then scan and print them in a new way for today’s audience. For the Yuchengco Museum, this is the start of a continuing series of courtyard displays.
RADIANCE, a photo installation by LITA R. PUYAT is on view until June 27, 2025 at the RCBC Plaza Courtyard, cor. Sen. Gil J. Puyat and Ayala Avenue, Makati City, open M-Sat from 10am to 6pm.
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