What the hell, plans on a Saturday afternoon?

If I told you it all blossomed from one drunken night at the house of a photographer taking pictures of her vain friend, you might not believe it. But that’s exactly how Daylight Saturday, an indie portrait session and barbecue party began — in the hands of an intoxicated photographer and her vain friend. The drunken house party yielded an idea, and within a week the first portrait session came to life.

Meet Gabby Cantero, the photographer. When her house party drew far too much people asking for “profile picturesque” portraits, the thought of bringing the picture taking session out into the public struck her. Gabby’s series of dreamy and natural portraits entitled “The Daylight Series” is a documentation of the portrait sessions that make up Daylight Saturday. “The whole of Daylight (Saturday) is a series. Every time we go to a different venue I have to adjust to it. Wherever we go, that’s the whole Daylight Series.”

To date, there have been four successful Daylight Saturdays. The first session, fresh from an inebriated, albeit brilliant, idea was an afternoon trip to Salcedo Park with some photographer friends. The friends invited friends of friends and the turnout of the first portrait session became a hit.

Having just finished Daylight Saturday IV in Cubao X, the portrait session has evolved into an all-out event. Now you can expect barbecue, music, all kinds of cliques, striving artists, the fashion faux pas, the band people clashing with the hip-hop people, the hipsters, the analog photographers, street wear and cheap beer. If anything, Daylight Saturday, which usually starts at 3 p.m., is a pretty good excuse to start drinking early.

Meet Kix Suarez, the vain one. “For the record…” he says, “I’m not a hipster.” Kix, other half of the genius behind Daylight Saturday, is also author of the blog “Mean Streets Manila,” an online account of Manila art, fashion, food and music immersed in what is the Manila street culture and lifestyle. Mean Streets Manila has been helping out Daylight Saturday since day one, and the team continues to stand strong.

“Let’s take it out to the streets,” says Kix about Mean Streets Manila and Daylight Saturday. “You know how people are very conventional, they go to the mall and they buy their shit in the mall… with this one, I’m trying to invite them out.”

Spend one afternoon with Daylight Saturday, have your picture taken, eat some grilled burgers, listen to raw, obscure music and meet different people.

“It’s like a fair,” says Kix.

“But there’s no marriage booth or rides,” adds Gabby.

They promise that you will be met with a very weird — pleasantly weird — mix of people.

 “We try to encourage people to get to know the people in the industry. If you’re into creativity you should go to a Daylight session. You’ll find many people there who are just really into the industry and want to make it happen in the Philippines,” says Kix. Daylight Saturday has become a venue for networking, giving birth to new collaborations and projects. “Everyone is really just hanging out, and then you get to meet other people. From there, some have begun their own projects and a lot of collaborations have started,” says Gabby. 

Run&Play ph, a local version of La Blogotheque where musicians are caught on video playing in unusual public spaces, is a project they say was formed in Daylight Saturday.

The two have dreams for Daylight Saturday getting all the cliques together in one afternoon. The interaction, they hope, from person to person regardless of background, will inspire them to meet new people, collaborate with them and create projects of their own.

 It’s a mouthful to put a label on what Daylight Saturday really is. A network, a portrait session, premature inuman, a gig, a Satorialist live fashion show, a barbecue. For Gabby, Daylight Saturday is basically “coming out on a Saturday afternoon and not just wasting it.”

If you really think about it, they insist, it’s a pretty stupid idea. Bold, gutsy and courageous, but nothing spectacular, they say.

Perhaps ideas under the influence of alcohol just seem to have that kind of edge.

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Attend the next Daylight Saturday on April 16.

For more information, check out Kix Suarez’ website www.meanstreetsmanila.wordpress.com and Gabby Cantero’s websit www.theseportraits.com. Check out Run&Play ph at runandplayph.wordpress.com.