Creative Coupling 101

MANILA, Philippines - How Everywhere We Shoot — photography and design duo and apparel brand Human’s latest endorsers — found creative harmony in life and love.

It’s hard to step into Ryan and Garovs Vergara’s new apartment and not catch yourself looking— at just about everything. Every point that your eye could possibly fix on lands on something of interest. A patch of green Astroturf here, a ripped hardbound cover scribbled with a note from Louie Cordero there, colorful rows of coffee table books with jealousy-inducing names like Ryan McGinley and Guy Bourdin printed on their spines. This is all before even taking in the sight of their seven-month-old kitten, Fuzi, perched expectantly atop a massive Garapata sculpture.

You probably don’t need to be told what these two do for a living. Not just because the laboriously well-curated interiors make it glaringly obvious, but because, by now, you’ve heard of Everywhere We Shoot.

And in case you haven’t, you’re in luck.

We sat down with the couple—and new Human endorsers—on a quiet afternoon to discuss their relationship, both working and romantic, for firsthand insight into the agony and the ecstasy that can sometimes come with working with your significant other.

YOUNG STAR: How long have you two been together?

GAROVS VERGARA: Since 2004, so nine years.

How did you guys meet?

RYAN VERGARA: We were in college at College of St. Benilde (CSB), medyo fourth year, pa-graduate. I saw her outside Chow King nag-yoyosi. I used to dye my hair red, green, pink, and it was the first time I ever saw this girl with green hair, too. I thought “Ang ganda naman niya.” My friend started teasing me, calling out her name, and I got so scared that I ran up to an FX. Hindi talaga ako nag-FX, pero sumakay pa din ako. I don’t even know where it went.

GV: Fast forward, and he finally asked me “Ano YM mo? Friendster? MSN? ICQ? May Multiply ka ba?” We became friends online.

And after you got together, how did your working relationship begin?

RV: I was taking mixed media and graphic design, and part of the course requirement was to have photography in your portfolio, so I bought my first DSLR. Garovs naman was studying fashion design and needed a styling portfolio, so we put those two together.

Did you always share a creative aesthetic?

GV: It’s funny because we would each go to Booksale separately, and then find out na pareho pala yung mga copies namin.

RV: I’d ask her what magazines she bought, and she’d say ID, Nylon, The Face, Fader. Tapos ako, “Ha? Iyan din yung nakuha ko!” Even though Booksale only had two or three copies, we’d end up buying the issues. Ang galing kase parang isa yung utak niyo.

GV: We also noticed that we both hated the studio setting. At the time shoots were all glamour, puro satin…

RV: Beautiful lighting and white background na walang concept. Sobrang fans kami ng classic Nylon and Terry Richardson, so we wanted to start something different in terms of Philippine photography.

What is—or was—your working arrangement like? Are the any difficulties defining your individual roles?

RV: Garovs used to style and try to shoot, but ayaw sa kaniya nung camera. Now she handles all the editing, all the post-processing and colors. The challenge is usually “What do we call ‘me’? What do I do for the company?” It’s hard to say exactly, so Garovs is Everywhere We Shoot’s creative director and colorist, and I’m the photographer and designer.

GV: Every other year our work shifts focus. This year has been more graphic design and product photography. Last year, puro fashion photography, and the year before that, mostly graphic design.

Do you ever have creative differences? How do you work through them?

GV: During a project briefing, you come up with so many ideas in your head. When we end up discussing with each other afterwards, sobrang iba ang ideas lagi! We end up talking one or two days about what the project actually needs. Sometimes masyadong maganda yung gusto mo, pero hindi naman kailangan ng project na ‘to. So after three—no, four days—of arguing over it, we put our ideas together.

On a personal level, what’s the best thing about working with someone you’re involved with?

GV: We can work without having to talk to one another. Like during a shoot, we just look at each other and know automatically what’s missing or what’s not working out.

What’s the hardest thing about working with someone you’re super familiar with?

GV: Ever since we got married, naging 24 hours na yung work namin. We were stressed all the time. Imagine fixing your house or washing the dishes, and still thinking about writing e-mails. Sobrang nag-clash, so we came up with house rules. Bawal mag-work sa bedroom. We also set a time limit. Only up to 7 p.m. for e-mails and phone calls. And it worked!

RV: But sometimes 7 p.m. na, tapos may nakalimutan ako i-upload sa Dropbox. Eh gusto ko sa kama kasi may TV and aircon. (Laughs)

What advice do you have for kids who are also couples and thinking of working together creatively?

RV: I have friends who used to date and work together and eventually nag-break. Pero never ko inisip yung “Hey, if we break up, what happens to the money in our joint account?” Dapat hindi mo inuuna yung money. Even if you don’t end up making money out of it, as long as working on something together makes you happy, push mo lang.

GV: Just do what you want to do. We never used to think about money. Tulad nitong gripong ito, binili naming dahil gusto namin. Walang kwenta. But it’s something that makes you happy.

RV: Hindi talaga siya overnight.

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Find the couple’s work online at everywhereweshoot.com.