Quickie with Alan Segui

Alan Segui, a Metro Manila-based photographer and creative force, is redefining artistic spaces for provincial talents. He dives into his journey of self-discovery, the intimacy of creative expression, and the lessons that continue to shape his passion, art, and pursuit of love. 

 

⁠What’s on your bedside table?

I just recently moved [to my new place], so I don’t even have a bedside table just yet. But what’s on my bedside is my trashcan, and on top of my trashcan is my phone, a bottle of water, and I don’t know– I think that’s it. 

⁠What’s the perfect date?

For me, it has to be at night– especially if it’s the first date. You get the vibe check more when it's at night, and I feel like it’s more intimate. I would prefer a date night.

And a perfect date would be a date that you still think about once you get home. Like you’re playing it back in your head. 

What’s your top tip on becoming more confident? 

I feel like confidence really does come with age, and life experience. I also feel like it comes naturally. It’s not something that you can fake or you can force because people can read through that.

My tip is just to put yourself out there and gain that experience. Remove the fear of failure because at the end of the day, anything that you can get out of life is something that contributes to who you become. 

⁠Best and worst sex tip you received?

The best sex tip I would say is to dim down the lights. And the worst is… Wait, let me think about it. I don’t really ask for tips so no, I don’t think I’ve ever received [a bad advice].

What gives you pleasure and how do you prioritize it?

What gives me pleasure is waking up to a new day without feeling like, "I wanna end the day." That’s how I feel like I’ve always lived my life. I just try to take life by the balls. And see it as it is. [Take] the positives and the negatives, the ugly and the beautiful. 

I prioritize it (pleasure) by just being honest with myself. I feel like what would come out of that would be something that’s fulfilling for me because I stuck with my guns and I was being honest with myself.

What sex/relationship advice would you give your younger self?

For sex: Don’t overthink it. And look them in the eye.

For relationships: Just remember that you’re your own person and you can’t bind yourself to another person and forget who you are. Sometimes when we get into relationships, we tend to forget that “I’m an individual person” also. So we tend to make decisions based on how it will affect the relationship—but forgetting how it would affect you and your personal growth as your own person.

At the end of the day, you only really have yourself. We have people around us to kind of influence us, be with us, spend time with us, and share moments with us. But when you go back home and you lay in your bed, and you analyze your things… if you’re not being the kindest to yourself, I feel like if you neglect acknowledging that you’re an individual person. I feel like that’s something that you shouldn’t be doing. 

When you were growing up, did you ever feel like you'd become a photographer?

I never really thought that I was gonna be a photographer. Honestly, even before college I was [thinking], "What am I gonna be after high school?" I had no idea what path I wanted to take and I’ve kind of just been like that.

I just have always sort of lived my life based on what’s in front of me and make decisions based off of that. So taking a career path was kind of a struggle. Initially, I wanted to be in I.T. but I also thought of going into culinary, interior design. I also wanted to try out film.

I ended up finishing journalism. But it wasn’t really my passion. I can write, but it’s not something that I wake up every day and be excited about.

With photography, I feel like it’s something that I discovered within the realms of journalism. When I was in high school, I was associate editor-in-chief of my [school] publication. I was also the photojournalist, and I found myself loving the photojournalism aspect more. Maybe that’s why I chose journalism for that sole fact na may subject na photojournalism. And it just carried on!

Growing up in Bicol and moving here in Manila to pursue that newfound passion for photography while I was in college was really a challenge. And I never thought in million years the life I’m gonna be living. So, you never really know.

Just put in the work, be really dedicated, and always push yourself to greater heights. [That's] the key to achieving whatever it is that you want in life.

Who is Alan Segui now and who do you think he’ll be in the future? If you weren’t a photographer, what do you think you'd be doing instead?

I’m the person that I’ve always wanted to become. I know there’s still a lot of things to work on. Life is too short. But it’s also really long, isn’t it? But right now, [at] this very stage, I’m close to whatever it is that I dreamt of before. I’m already living it.

What am I gonna be in the future? [Only] God knows what I’m gonna be in the future. I just live my life day by day and see. 

What’s one piece of advice you’ve followed that completely changed the trajectory of your life?

During a time where everything was happening all at once, a really special person told me, “Don’t forget who you are."

I tend to get lost in [busy] situations, and the connections with people that are part of the situations happening. But I just remind myself that “I’m that bitch” and that whatever comes my way i won't forget that I'm that bitch.

What’s one misconception people have about you that you’d love to clear up?

I feel like people think that I’m such a wild, sexual, and promiscuous person. Multiple people have told me, “You’re naturally really flirty” and “You’re giving off player vibes."

But honestly, I don’t know what it is but I just wanna clear up na I’m not actually promiscuous. And my gosh, you guys, I’m so lazy in bed—if you guys just know.

I feel like [when] I wanna get to know a person more, I’m not afraid to ask questions and look them in the eye. That's why they interpret [my flirtiness] as that, but I’m just really chill, really wholesome.

Who or what has been your greatest muse when it comes to love?

I don’t have a muse. When it comes to love, I don’t have a peg for that. You wanna be loved the way you wanna be loved. For every person, that’s different. Sometimes it could be really chill, [and] sometimes it could be really possessive. My idea of love is being with people who let you be you, and support you, and choose you. 

What role does love play in your creative process?

Subconsciously, I feel like it does play a huge part of it. Whenever I would take photos or make a moodboard for creative direction, it’s always kind of rooted in love, romance, warmth, longing, and vulnerability. It always plays around that realm, maybe that's why I'm used to doing warm color grading in my photographs.

Whenever I would have a model sit there, I kind of just tell them– “Could you look sad? Like you're waiting for someone?” And then, sometimes the concept would be very lovey-dovey in different interpretations.

What’s the most shocking thing someone has done to prove their love for you?

I can name two things, actually. But one is… oh my God, I once had a boy kind of risk everything for me. Kind of. It’s crazy. I don’t think I asked him to do so but this is what I mean by sureness, you know? And it kinda came out of nowhere… so that’s one.

Then I also had a boy do the same thing, but in a different way– kind of risked the security to let me be me. That for me, I think, is unconditional love. If you feel like, “Okay, I love this person so much I’m gonna give him everything—literally everything, just so that he could pursue whatever or find what he’s searching for, and respect that." And to actually work on being okay and stay in love even after the whole experience, that’s literally the greatest gift ever given to me in this lifetime.