Stella Kalaw
Stella Kalaw is a photographer and collage artist born and raised in Manila, Philippines. With over two decades of experience in photography, she expanded her artistic practice to include digital and analog collage in 2020. She earned a BA in Communication Arts from De La Salle University, Manila, and a BA in Professional Photography from Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California.
Stella’s collage work draws from photography-based imagery, incorporating found materials, historical ephemera, and contemporary elements to construct layered visual narratives. Embracing an improvisational approach akin to jazz composition, she assembles disparate elements into cohesive, whimsical compositions that evoke nostalgia while offering a fresh perspective.
Stella is the Lead Digital Collage Artist for A Considerable Age, a weekly newsletter that shares wildly authentic, heart-stoppingly real, or funny stories every Sunday morning. She creates digital collage illustrations that capture the unique essence of these personal narratives. Her work has also been featured in the upcoming Coffee Table Art Book (expected March–April 2025), Paris Collage Collective’s International Women’s Day 2024 collection, and Coffee People Zine, Issue 20: Earth.
Her photographic work has been exhibited at the Singapore International Photography Festival, The Ayala Museum in Manila, Wall Space Gallery in Seattle, Kala Art Gallery in Berkeley, and Rayko Gallery in San Francisco. The Banco Sentral ng Pilipinas has acquired her photographs for its permanent collection. Her editorial portraiture has appeared in The New York Times, and magazines such as Gastronomica, and Wine Enthusiast.
Through her evolving practice, Stella explores themes of memory and place in her photography, while her collage work focuses on creating playful reinterpretations of nostalgic imagery, blending elements of the past with a contemporary perspective.
