A shirtless young man in checkered shorts standing inside a rustic room next to a refrigerator, with a woman standing near the doorway.

Vintage CRT television playing on a patterned draped table next to a blue electric fan in a rustic wooden room.

Shirtless young Black man sitting on a plaid bed holding a red sneaker inside a rustic wooden room.

A woman in a yellow shirt stands against a weathered blue wooden wall, resting her hands on a fence and wooden chair.

Silhouette of a man kicking a soccer ball on a sandy beach alongside other players under bright sun.

Young Black man in a red sleeveless shirt holding a handheld mirror while receiving a haircut with electric clippers.

A man lying on a bench pressing a makeshift barbell with concrete weights against a weathered wooden wall.

Two shirtless Black boys wearing denim shorts walk through a brush-filled field bordered by trees.

A rustic wooden shack with a corrugated metal roof stands on a sandy beach surrounded by weathered wooden fence posts.

A small rustic house with glowing yellow windows at night under a dark overcast sky beside a tall palm tree.

A shirtless Black man leans against a light blue wooden house with a young boy resting against a fence in the foreground.

A shirtless man resting back against sunlit rocks with eyes closed and a cigarette in his mouth.

Silhouetted figures of young men swimming and resting on rocky ocean cliffs under bright natural sunlight.

Silhouette of a person seated on a plastic chair facing a blue-lit outdoor night party and DJ setup.

Shirtless man standing barefoot on a sandy beach holding a fish in his right hand with the ocean behind him.

Silhouetted palm trees, power lines, and rooftops set against a deep purple and soft orange twilight sky.

A rustic coastal shack with a painted sign, parked motorcycle, and a bright glowing light over the entrance at dusk.

Man bench-pressing a barbell with concrete weights on a wooden bench beside weathered wooden wall planks.

A person bench pressing a makeshift barbell with concrete weights on a weathered wooden porch in front of rustic slatted walls.

Holiday Magazine Villa Gloria by Paw Gissel 2026

About

In Villa Gloria, photographer Paw Gissel turns his lens toward the quiet, lived-in realities of a peripheral community, creating a visual narrative that oscillates between reportage and intimate documentary. This editorial series for Holiday Magazine avoids the artifice of traditional lifestyle photography, instead opting for a raw, honest exploration of daily life. By utilizing natural light as his primary medium, Gissel accentuates the texture of weathered wooden architecture and the subtle, dusty atmosphere of a seaside setting. The project channels a cinematic sense of place, grounding its subjects against backdrops of fading paint, makeshift gyms, and wide, overexposed horizons. Whether capturing a shirtless youth holding a fresh catch or the silhouetted figures of men playing soccer at twilight, the work feels remarkably present. Gissel employs diverse lighting techniques, including high-key beach exposures and low-key chiaroscuro that bathes humble dwellings in golden, dusk-filled warmth. This combination of portraiture and landscape provides a visceral look at the intersection of human endurance and rural routine. The result is a collection that reads as both personal and expansive, where the informal architecture and the quietude of the inhabitants tell a story of resilience and simple, unvarnished existence. Through Gissel's restrained, documentary-style lens, Villa Gloria becomes a hauntingly beautiful study of light, texture, and the overlooked corners of the world.