Ronnie Lazaro on ‘Lies the Truth’: Art must be honest and unboxed

For more than four decades, veteran actor Ronnie Zabala Lazaro has lived most of his life deep in storytelling. From the stage to the screen, he has embodied countless characters, each shaped by emotion, truth, and imagination.

Now, for his latest art exhibit "Lies the Truth," Lazaro turns his lens toward a different kind of performance: the silent, intimate narratives found within a single photograph.

Launched at the Avellana Art Gallery on Jan. 31, the exhibit features striking portraits of personalities, mostly his friends and costars from the entertainment industry—Jaime Fabregas, Art Acuña, Cherry Pie Picache, John Lloyd Cruz, Janine Gutierrez, to name a few—each partially obscuring their face with their own hands. The gesture is simple yet deeply symbolic—inviting viewers to confront ideas of identity, reality, and the many truths we choose to hide or reveal.

For Lazaro, his art reflects rampant deception in the world, even in the country. 

"I think this whole thing fits the moment where we are now, where there's so many lies. And these lies are all accepted like truth," he said. "Everybody lies. I can only pinpoint to the government, politics... showbiz."

Out of his slow-burning frustration, Lazaro birthed the idea of actors having restrained yet resonant expressions. 

"We actors, it's in our eyes. But when we cover that, there lies the truth," Lazaro explained. 

This philosophy of authenticity guided not just Lazaro's message, but also his approach in creating it. Unlike traditional studio shoots or casually staged compositions, Lazaro describes his process as spontaneous, unboxed: being in the moment, seeing honest expressions, and a click of a shutter.

"I take them with one shot. Most of them, one click," Lazaro proudly says of his work, all taken with just his smartphone camera with varying degrees of quality—from brightly lit shots to room lighting, highlighting textured hands, expressive placements, or a subtle gleaming of a bare scalp.

This raw, instinctive style gave his photographs a sense of immediacy. While largely defined by expressive gestures and mysterious visage, Lazaro’s works invite viewers to draw meaning from the images based on their own experiences.

"This is what you see. I want it democratically, art. It's up to them how they would want to take that," Lazaro added. 

"Lies the Truth" is currently on display at Avellana Art Gallery for the whole month of February. It is located at 2680 F.B. Harrison St., Pasay City.