Happy Valentine’s Day! Today, in particular, most of us celebrate love…or maybe lack thereof. But how do we, creatives, define love (or lack thereof) and how do we express or capture love in our work?
That depends on what kind of art form we use to talk about love. First thing that comes to mind is poetry. Then, maybe movies.
As photographers we can be more or less subtle when capturing love, and also when capturing certain facets of love.
The Price of Love photo by Alina Oswald. Flower pot in heart-shaped ornament in front of a Frisian house on the island of Sylt, Germany.
Let’s start with “can’t buy me love,” the price (or price tag) of love. That inspired the image below. Also, I’d like to add here that love might not be something that one can buy, but that doesn’t meant that love doesn’t come at a price, one that might have nothing to do with money.
Love comes in different forms. It is the reason for fighting for a cause–love for animals, for a significant other, for the environment or for peace come to mind. At times, love becomes the cause, the reason to fight. And that takes me to the fight for marriage equality. A few years ago, when marriage equality became legal in the state of New York, I came up with an image I then called Love 4 All. That year, Love 4 All became part of the Fresh Fruit Festival art show at Leslie-Lohman Gallery in New York City.
But as I have already mentioned, love comes in all shapes and forms. More often than not, as photographers, when we think of photographing love, photographing engagements and weddings might come to mind. After all, many marriage proposals happen on Valentine’s Day. So here are a few images of couples in love, embracing on the sun dial, on Jersey City waterfront, or at the edge of a tunnel, in Central Park.
There are couples who travel in style, and also those who’d rather enjoy a walk on the beach, barefooted:
Couple walking on a remote beach. Photo by Alina Oswald.
There’s also an ‘edgier’ side of love, one that intrigues us, in particular as artists and our work. The two images posted below are part of one of my body of work still in progress.
There is also the love for our work–for the craft itself, when it comes to creatives. Some of us a…obsessed with our work and with the causes we’re trying to support through our artwork. That kind of passion, that kind of love allows us to put our hearts and souls into whatever we create, and try to make a difference.
Angel in Central Park. Lensbaby image of Bethesda angel statue in Central Park, inspired by Angels in America. Photo by Alina Oswald.
So, I hope that love and understanding, and passion, too, are all in the air today and every other day.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
As always, thanks for stopping by!
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Hello Alina, thank you for your wonderful and interesting thoughts and pics about photographing love. Happy Valentine´s day to you. Klaus Bichlmayer
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Hello Klaus, Appreciate your kind words. I was thinking of something to post for today, and, of course, photographing love and/or relationships came to mind. Also, I had this image of a flowerpot in a heart-shaped ornament. Captured it a few years ago, when I visited Sylt, Germany. So, that’s the behind-the-scenes story of this post. Thanks again! I enjoy your IG images very much. Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too! (I’m trying very hard not to eat too much chocolate, lol!)
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