ALLY GONZALO - BAKLA!

BY MICHELLE JOSEPH

You might think that a degree in history and political science would lead to a career in politics or teaching, but for Ally Gonzalo, it led to a career in photography.

While he was a student at the University of the Philippines, Ally attended a field trip with some of his friends. They lent him a camera to capture pictures for the day, and Ally took full advantage and snapped images of everything they saw. At the end of the day, his friends noticed that he had a unique flare for taking pictures and asked if he’d like to be a part of a photography group that they were organizing. He accepted.

When he graduated from the university, he asked his grandmother for a camera as a graduation gift. She obliged, and he continued with his new favourite hobby.

In June 2016, Ally and his family left the Philippines and immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since he was starting from scratch in a new place, he felt he needed to figure out what he wanted to do. He could have sought work in radio or social media, as he had some previous experience in both fields, but he chose to pursue photography, as it made him happy and was an outlet for his creativity. Without hesitation, he enrolled at the PrairieView School of Photography.

For a self-directed assignment, Ally chose to challenge himself and take portraits of people. At the time, he was comfortable shooting street photography and landscapes, but he felt intimidated by taking pictures of people. He chose to take portraits so that he could confront his anxiety head on. He initially had a goal of photographing five people but ended up doubling his number of subjects, and graduating at the top of his class.

Like most people in a new place, Ally felt a little isolated and wanted to make friends and fit in. He thought that one way to meet new people was to join a photography group. Most of the photographers he encountered were white, cisgender, heterosexual men. He felt out of place, as he was the only brown, queer man and immigrant. After several failed attempts at trying to “fit in,” he decided to distinguish himself from everyone else and photograph people who he didn’t see represented in media.

In 2019, he connected with a video producer from the CBC who was putting together a Filipino Heritage Month video and spoke to Ally about his Filipino background. Fascinated by their conversation, the producer suggested Ally submit a proposal to the CBC Creator Network. Not thinking too much about it, Ally sent in a pitch and to his surprise, the project was green lit. CBC Manitoba and CBC Arts shared his story and behind-the-scenes videos featuring Ally working on his series of portraits of gay, trans, non-binary, and bisexual Filipino Winnipeggers. His project was called Bakla!

“Bakla” (Tagalog) is a term that means people who possess characteristics that are both male and female: an identity that Ally fully embraces. Although the term is meant to be derogatory, Ally has claimed it with pride. The term includes people who identify as trans, non-binary, or bisexual, and who generally don’t subscribe to hetero-normative and genderbinary worldviews. While most Bakla are attracted to men, collectively referring to them as “gay” would be inaccurate as some self-identify as women. Similar to indigenous Two- Spirited people, Bakla are considered to be capable of seeing the world through both female and male eyes.

Ally feels that part of his role as a photographer is to educate people about his community. He looks to use his skills behind the camera to uplift members of the queer community in front of his lens. We’re excited to follow this story as Ally has now secured support from the Winnipeg Arts Council to continue this project. He will be moving at at a slower and steadier pace due to the global pandemic disruption, but we’re confident he will find a way to share more work and stories from his incredible and unique perspective.