Photography DIX PEREZ
Videography ANDREW APUYA
Make Up XENG ZULUETA
Hair JET BABAS
Fashion Styling BEA CONSTANTINO
By: Joanna Francisco
“It’s fun talking about something else,” says Shaira Luna, the photographer who takes on a new role this time as she focuses on the topic of beauty—her own—in front of the lens.
“I feel so old,” says Shaira, who has just turned 30. “I feel like I’ve lived so many lives. Since I was one year old, I’ve been doing so many things. So I feel like I’m older than I am. But at this point in my career, I feel really youthful. I have more energy, more ideas. I’m more excitable than I was back then.“
Her widely documented achievement as a wonder kid has made her some kind of celebrity. “I was supposed to be a doctor at 19,” she says. But her imagination ruled—fueled by her storybook companions growing up—and life took a different turn. She has been expressing her creative ideas through images for the last ten years. She shoots almost daily, with only Sunday as rest day when she does personal shoots. “I’m so lucky to be able to shoot the stuff that I like to do.”
Her skin – white as paper – is the result of staying away from the sun. “I use sunblock; whatever I can get. People give me sunblock. I have almost all the brands. I have boxes of unopened sunblock,” she says.
“If you see me during beach shots, I look like the strangest person. I wear a big hat. I wear long sleeves. I came from a shoot in la Union, and they were all laughing cause it looked like I was going to Baguio. My hands are shades darker than my skin!” she laughs.
Her tattoos, now numbering 23, are another reason she likes to keep her arms covered. “I’ve been fascinated by piercings and tattoos since I was around nine,” she says. “I just found it aliw.”
