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Solace, an exhibition showcasing nearly 150 photographs by 46 visual journalists, photographers, and videographers from across Asia, opens October 10 at Kapitolyo Art Space in Pasig City.
Featuring photographers and visual journalists from the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Mongolia, Nepal, and beyond, the exhibition brings together the work of current students and alumni of the visual journalism programs at the Asian Center for Journalism (ACFJ), Ateneo de Manila University.
From floods and evacuation camps to uprisings and moments of mourning, Solace presents Asia’s hardest moments while looking closely at the people who live through them – their tenderness and joy, the small acts of care, courage, and solidarity that help communities endure.
Solace was curated by documentary photographer Veejay Villafranca, an alumnus of the Diploma in Photojournalism at the ACFJ, where he teaches documentary photography. Villafranca is the co-founder of photo collective Fotomoto PH and has served on the World Press Photo jury, including as a global jury chair for Southeast Asia in 2024.
Villafranca said many of the featured photographers come from the communities they document, and that closeness shapes how this exhibition frames these stories.
“Crisis is often measured by what it destroys,” Villafranca said. “Solace frames these stories not only by what people lose, but by how they hold each other up through it,” he added.
“As images are continuously churned and spread everywhere, the trust in what is authentic becomes fragile. Visual journalism protects the stories of these communities around the world. Visual journalists are trained and expected to verify, take time, and treat the people with dignity through their photography. The Diploma in Visual Journalism (DVJ) gives Asian journalists the training, mentorship, and community to do that work well, and to tell their region's stories on their own terms. This exhibition is a testament to the program’s continued success and evolution,” Villafranca said.
Solace is presented by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Media Programme Asia, in partnership with the ACFJ. The exhibition forms part of KAS Media Programme Asia’s 30th anniversary activities, marking three decades of support for journalists and newsrooms across the region. This year, ACFJ also celebrates a decade of the DVJ program.
“These photographs remind us that a crisis does not end when the headlines move on. People stay. They care for one another, rebuild their homes and communities, and find ways to continue,” said KAS Media Programme Asia Director Fabian Wagener. “The journalists featured in Solace have stayed with them long enough to see their stories through. Supporting that kind of journalism has been central to our work in Asia for three decades.”
For ACFJ Director Arlene Burgos, the exhibition is as much a statement of purpose as a showcase of craft.
“We envision the Solace exhibit to be a showcase of Asian visual journalism at its finest in the sense that not only does it deliver aesthetically, but is a platform for what we as journalists and truth-tellers must do: use our bodies of work to remind people of our responsibilities, history, and lived experiences as citizens and as human beings,” Burgos said.
Solace runs at Kapitolyo Art Space from October 10 to 23. The gallery is open daily from 10 am to 9 pm. Admission is free.
Following its Manila run, Solace will travel to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where it will be on view from November 5 to 7 at the Shangri-La Chiang Mai Hotel. The exhibition will then return to Manila for a final show at Areté, Ateneo de Manila University, in Quezon City from November 20 to 27.