ALFRED ONG, who shoots under the pseudonym Espectro (meaning Ghost), is a published Filipino photographer and visual artist based in Manila. Dividing his time between the Philippines, Japan, and Taiwan, his work explores themes of liminality, existence, nostalgia, and melancholy through emotional and atmospheric street photography. Shot primarily in black and white as well as monochromatic red, his images function as visual poetry, holding a feeling rather than explaining it. He works seamlessly across film, digital formats, and alternative processes, utilizing them as different pathways to achieve the same emotional resonance.

He studied Fine Arts at Far Eastern University Manila, with a background in architecture from the University of Santo Tomas, and gained institutional experience at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. Ong also collaborates with Ephemere, a Tokyo based photography platform and publisher, where he served as Assistant Curator for productions such as Triplicities and Anthology 3.