Loving the arts is innate to her being

The 20-year-old fun-sized lady finds a great relief in photography. Every click and shutter on her camera lessens the stress that she experiences from the academic demands and her other commitments.

Currently, Brianna Karla Cardenas is taking up Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Advertising Arts. She is also a senior photographer of TomasinoWeb and an official contributor for SM Youth. She said that she joined the organizations aforementioned to build her brand and stuff. Despite the hassle of doing plates and taking photos everywhere, she always keeps herself optimistic no matter what.

Bria, as her friends call her, chose Advertising Arts for one reason. She thought that it is inclined on business but little did she know that it is more of the arts. “Nagulat ako may drawing test nung entrance exam,” she confessed. Opportunely, she was able to cope up with her environment on her first year in college.

“Pag nastre-stress ako, naghahanap ako ng mapho-photog. Through photography ako namo-motivate,” she affirmed. Bria even cited an instance wherein she covered a UAAP game between the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers and National University Bulldogs during the prelims week last September because she was so stressed and got irritated so she took the opportunity to cover.

As a dean’s lister, the 4’11”-tall artist always prioritizes her academic standing but can still find time to perform well on her extra-curricular organizations. Never did she allow her studies be compromised because of her non-academic stuff. “If there's a will, there's a way,” she added.

Born in Fresno, California, Bria sees herself studying a short course on fashion photography in Parsons, the New School for Design, 10 years from now. She chose fashion photography because ever since she was young, she used to notice advertisements and used to collect Total Girl and Candy Magazine. When asked how much she loves photography, she answered, “Siguro 99 percent kasi one percent minsan nakakatamad mag-edit,” and her laughter filled the four corners of the room.

Tracing the origin of her artistic nature

Ever since grade school in the School of Holy Spirit of Quezon City, Bria was exposed to the arts. But she ventured into photography when she was already on her second year in high school.

Her schoolmate Merphi Panaguiton, the account manager of thekinduniverse.tumblr.com, influenced her to pursue photography. She was Bria’s mentor somehow. As she grows older, she is inspired by the fashion photographers based in New York City like Lara Jade and Emily Soto, and Filipino fashion photographers BJ Pascual and Mark Nicdao.

When doing plates and taking photos, she gets inspiration by visiting the blogs of Nicole Warne (garypeppergirl.com) and Kim Jones (kimcamjones.com). “Gusto ko yung feeling na nagtra-travel ka tapos fashion ka din. Through that, natututo ka ng madaming bagay, like hindi mo lang ginagawa yung fashion stuff, may natututunan ka din sa culture ng ibang country. Masaya yung feeling kapag natututo ka ng something new na love mo pala,” Bria shared.

Since she joined the SM Youth, she has been mentored by Bjorn Bedayo, popularly known as Bjorn Manila, who commended her for applying the things that she learned from the workshop she attended.

If she didn’t choose Advertising Art as her major, she could have been a Music student or a Theater Arts major. She was so into music and theater back when she was in high school. Bria is indeed blessed to be well rounded at several forms of arts.

Inspiration through photos

Bria believed that she can inspire others especially the youth by producing images with stories because she said that the photo itself is a language that requires understanding.

She advised the beginners and those who want to start in photography to pursue the craft despite others hating it and not to give up on their dreams, “I-pursue mo lang yung gusto mo kasi at the end of the day, ikaw pa rin yung nagma-manage, ikaw pa rin sa sarili mo yung masusunod. At wag ka mag-gi-give up kaagad kasi pag may something kang gustong i-pursue, syempre hindi naman agad agad makukuha, pinaghihirapan yan. Basta wag kang matatakot gawin yung something para sa dream mo o whatever that is na gusto mong i-achieve pa.”

There’s nothing wrong with taking risks. “If you want something in your life you’ve never had, you have to do something you have never done,” Bria read the quote from her phone.

“Maging positive ka lang, kasi pag sinurround mo yung sarili mo with positive people, magiging positive ka rin at mai-influence mo din yung ibang tao. Through that, pede mo nang ma-share yung inner art and stuff,” she added.

Bria described the happiness she feels every time she finishes her plates and gets her photos published, “Masaya yung feeling na natapos ka dahil pinaghirapan mo at yung feeling nang iba yung gawa mo. Ang sarap ng feeling.”