Lost and Found by Brian Sergio

Just under a decade ago I purchased Brian Sergio’s Pak!, a raw, visceral collection of portraits taken in and around his home town of Manila.

Utilising both a gritty monochrome pallet and an in your face style of portraiture somewhat reminiscent of Bruce Gildern or Anders Petersen, Pak! was both a battle cry for a disillusioned and ignored youth subculture and an electrified breath of hot South East Asian air.

At the time I said, “there’s a new kid in town“.

Fast forward to 2025 and a new collection from Tokyo based Zen Foto Gallery reveals what at least on the surface, appears to be a softer and more introspective aspect of Sergio’s art and personality.

Born out of a period of loss and disillusionment which largely coincided with Covid era early 2000's, Lost and Found finds Sergio’s vision pulled back to the essence of self.

The places and people that comforted, grounded him and ultimately, kept him sane.

Home, friends and family.

With its reflective tone and less confrontational approach It almost seems too much of a serendipitous metaphor to also be able to view this latest work in colour but Lost and Found is also Sergio’s first official book of colour photography.

And it is glorious.

During the course of various previous exchanges Sergio had often drawn attention to the fact that he is colour blind and therefore, as with pretty much every new field of exploration and the dilemmas associated with releasing it out into the world, there was self doubt and reservation.

However, on the past occasions when I had been shown one or two of those tentative steps into this - for him - relatively uncharted area of the medium, he instantly had my enthusiastic support.

As ever, a completely unwarranted cloud of uncertainty, concealed an effortless mastery of a medium that for so long he had considered his bete noire.

Sergio's understanding of the discipline and his ability to render his colour photography in a vibrant rich palette, is perfectly suited to his home country of the Philippines.

Whether through unbroken cloudless skies, to the monsoon heavy landscapes through which the air in front of you is often so thick with rain that making out an object less than a few meters away is almost impossible.

Through all this it is still a country of colour.

In his notes for Lost and Found, Sergio describes a time in his life where it had all gone wrong.

A long term relationship metamorphosed into something quite different and ultimately broke down.

Essentially forced into making a choice between a dark downward spiral of sex and money, or self preservation and sanity, he opted for the latter.

Shortly after, his grandfather passed away and as if that wasn't enough, his family home burned down.

It is maybe not unsurprising therefore that the work that has risen - Phoenix like if  you will - through these ashes has a more reflective tone to it.

Whereas Gilden and Petersen may have been appropriate  when referencing Pak!, here we are more likely to see nods to the likes of Halpern and Anderson.

One of the joys of Sergio's work has always been to see glimpses of an awareness of those around him, whilst at the same time retaining his own , singular and very identifiable.voice and style.

Whether it be birds ascending or staircases leading to unspecified spaces, ultimately we are still in Sergio's world.

A suicide bomber sits on a toilet, a mess of wires and a look of confusion.

A nude stands with her back to us whilst the blue of the sky and the stark concrete of her surroundings cast reflections and shadows, alternate light sources rebound off flesh, the knots of her kinbaku ropes almost lost....almost.

His talent for street photography and connection to his subjects is sublime.

A man crouches on a bridge in glorious daylight, his trousers around his ankles whilst legs of pedestrians are seen circumnavigating him.

Only Sergio could catch someone on camera in such a potentially intimate setting and still have the subject smiling back at him.

Busted!

Lost and Found is undoubtedly a book about healing.

Towards the back of the book, two family portraits. One is a photograph of Sergio's late father, taking pride of place in a sunlit courtyard of his mother's house.

Although cited by the artist as the the person who believed in him the most, the picture that takes its place on the opposite page of the book, is a beautiful portrait of his beaming mother.

Still very much with us and  -no doubt - always on hand for sympathy and support.

This is a face that will always welcome you in for pancit and a calamansi juice.

Lost and found, indeed.

So are Pak! And Lost and Found the summation of a journey?

No, of course not, but I truly believe that they are two of the brighter stars in the constellation of Sergio.

A canvas of infinity already peppered by the blinks and flashes of zines and books that lend their light to his already impressive journey as well as those projects waiting in the wings, yet to be….maybe.

All of these shimmers, serving as reminders that perfection does not arrive fully formed and gleaming like a cut diamond. It takes work and the occasional crash and reset.

It requires discipline and the confidence -rather than the delusion - of self.

These brighter and more polished stars will continue to evolve and appear as the incendiary comet that is its creator continues to burn through time and imagination.

I’m sure as time passes and correspondences continue, the artist's crests and falls will continue.

The frustrated promises to pack it all in, and to never take another photograph.

And all the while new tiny lights will appear….

Plenty of room, plenty of time.

The trick seems to be, to work as if you have neither.

The unstoppable force and the immovable object.

Lost and Found is published by Zen Foto Gallery.