Artist Biography

Bienyl Huelgas (b. 1998) is a self-taught photographic artist based in Cavite, Philippines. Raised in a low-income household in a small rural community, she draws on her lived experience and uses photography as a space for self-reflection. Working across digital and analog photographic processes, she examines what it means to move through the world as a transgender woman. Her work explores the tensions between visibility and erasure, belonging and exile, while questioning how marginalized bodies are represented and remembered.

She is an alumna of the 2026 Angkor Photo Workshops. Her work has been exhibited locally and internationally and featured in relevant publications. She has received awards and recognition from The Photo Review's 41st Annual International Photography Competition, the International Photography Awards, and the Analog Sparks International Film Photography Awards. She is also a finalist for the 2025 Head On Portrait Awards and the 2025 Klompching FRESH Photo Award, and was named a Top 200 finalist in the 2025 Photolucida Critical Mass.