2024 Year in Photos

It’s that time of the year. We’re at the final parts of the last month of the year. Some people are already on their vacations. People who, for some reason, still work (like me) are now just clocking in to drag their cursors over some blank Excel to pretend they’re productive. And it’s the time for my very own year-end special post like I have done the past years.

We’re doing things a little differently this year. In the previous years, I have written a top 10 or whatever of memorable events of the year. This time, we are going to look through each month through photos I have taken. I figured that since I look through my photos for the year to remember things that happened and pinpoint their exact date, I might as well just put them into photos.

January. My birthday this year was special. It’s been a while since I’ve allowed myself to celebrate birthdays. But this year’s was the first time I did it with my friends. It was a lot of firsts: the first birthday cake in a long time, the first party of sorts, the first birthday surprise (my friends surprised me), and a lot more.

After a simple dinner, my friend Jordy brought me to O-Bar to see the acclaimed drag queen Bernie, who also happened to be celebrating her birthday that day. This was a fun day. Truly remarkable.

February. This was the first time I went to watch Drag Cartel, and it was sincerely life-changing. Seeing Felicia Ding perform her piece (a commentary on Duterte’s drug war) raised a lot of goosebumps.

I also loved this outfit I was wearing. I got called gay slurs on my way home, and it was a point when I realized that living queerly and true meant that I can only choose between happiness and safety—never both. I chose the former.

March. This was the first drag roast event in the Philippines, I think. It was produced by the incomparable Eva Le Queen. It was amazing. It was also kind of a mirror for my moral sensitivities and what I deem “cancellable” (which was a lot of the stuff in the program). When I realized what was happening with my thinking patterns here, I had to actively tell myself to enjoy the awful insults thrown by these amazing drag queens against each other. It was fun.

Also, I got complimented by M1ss Jade So’s handler. They told me she would like the springy butterfly clips I had on my head. My hair was growing really long here. I would have it cut soon afterwards.

April. It has been a long-time dream of mine to have my own place, and I have achieved it this year. This one isn’t an outfit, but rather the first picture I took on my first night in my new place. It was still empty and things were all over the place, but for the first time I had something that was truly mine and I didn’t have to share. For a breadwinner like me, it is such a huge thing to be given a space to be selfish and not have to share things with people.

My first month was just giddy. The second month was melancholic; I realized how lonely an empty house felt. The third month onwards was just peace and calm as I looked forward to the next appliance and furniture I’m getting. The apartment feels more like a home now eight months later.

May. Nothing of note happened in May. I was busy with work and couldn’t get out much. Here are some cute selfies I took.

June. I had wanted to come to Baguio for the longest time. It was one of the places I had always wanted to visit. I even planned going there with some of the people that are now only in my past. Aside from the traffic as we went there on a long weekend with my friends, Baguio did not disappoint. I immediately missed it as soon as I got back home.

At this point, I am starting to explore different forms of spirituality, and I’d been interested in the metaphysical, astrology, and folk spirituality. We went to a Tarot reader and I received an enlightenment, a sort of path forward. It was like a calling of sorts that Baguio just bestowed upon me. And I am still on that path today.

You all know how the gay men just have to show up and show out on the most important month of the year for the queers. It’s been a tradition for me to go on a photoshoot for Pride Month, and this year’s theme was about facing the shame that comes with years of being trapped inside the closet. Or in my case, a form of learned helplessness and a made-up fear of not being accepted. Everyone relevant to my life’s story had no qualms with me being gay. Only me.

And now that I am out and proud, there’s no more reason not to be as gay as I can be. This shoot involved feminine outfits, a tube, and a gown. I would soon go and practice drag makeup after this shoot, of course as part of facing the queer shame head on.

July, August, September. By this time, I had been committed to makeup with the intent of eventually learning how to do drag. These are some of the look tests I did.

October. Our workplace’s theme for this year’s costume party was animé. I’m gonna be honest, I know virtually nothing about animé. But I came as Arlecchino from Genshin Impact. I know, I know—it’s not an animé per se, but the art style is deliberately reminiscent of that so that’s what I went with.

I guess the highlight of this are the eyes. I bought a pair of red contact lenses that I didn’t end up wearing because they felt so uncomfortable on my eyeballs. I just overlaid the red cross marks on my irises on Figma and called it a day. I didn’t win, but that’s okay because I really didn’t have a chance this year anyway.

November. This is a recreation of Mama Pao’s look on their guesting for Drag Race Thailand. Nothing much to say about this other than it’s badass and that I would totally wear this makeup again. It complemented my face and skin color very well.

Still November. This is my outfit for Wicked Part 1’s showing. I had booked a ticket in advance because—would you believe me?—I had been waiting for this since I was in high school! And the film was “remarkable. Absolutely remarkable.”

I booked the centermost seat in the theatre, and met a new friend. They sat beside me and we geeked out the entire movie. When the credits rolled, we accidentally held hands after we were just overwhelmed with the greatness that is Cynthia Erivo’s rendition of Defying Gravity. Truly worth the wait.

December. This one’s a good finale. I won the best dressed again in our company’s thanksgiving party. I know; y’all are tired and I’mma let you rest. This year’s the last time, I swear. I talk about the details of this outfit in its accompanying photoshoot.

I also won a microwave oven! That’s a first. It was fun.

Closing thoughts. Looking through these photos, I realize that—damn—2024 really was my year. I experienced so many new things. I couldn’t remember any other year in the past where I felt more alive than I felt this year. The only things I cried about are hopecore Tiktoks and the Wicked Part 1 movie. In January, I officially transitioned into a higher position early this year. I got myself a new place that’s entirely my own in April. Then I got a lot of things to be thankful for in the entire year.

I got into Tarot reading recently. I can say 2025 is giving me a lot to look forward to. I look forward to new opportunities. I have also recently opened myself up to dating again, which is brutal (as usual) for queer men like me. But I’m really mostly looking forward to what’s coming next year. Cheers to a new year!