Love, Marriage and Photography

Love can be found everywhere you look, if you know how to look. I don’t just mean the traditional sense as in romantic love between two people; that’s just one kind. Open your eyes and see how love is what makes the world what it is, in every single way.

Love can be felt for a person, a moment in time, an experience; it’s a word which isn’t used enough, at at least in the right way, to express such a pure emotion. Photographically, I look for that moment in a subject where their eyes soften and just for a moment, they’re transported away to another place where their everyday issues, worries and concerns fade away. I am absolutely certain that when a person feels love, in any type of way, at that moment every face is beautiful.

The image I’ve used to illustrate this blog post is a moment in time, captured on a busy dancefloor, where the love of the music and the moment created a certain peace and stillness. (I hasten to add that this isn’t an image of romantic love betweeen two people, merely one friend accepting a dance from another). In this image, I felt strongly that the focal point needn’t be where you may expect it to be, upon the eyes; it’s a dreamy moment and as such, can be dealt with in a different way. I wanted the viewer to see and ‘feel’ the image without intruding into the moment.

As for the other kind of love and marriage – well, in a week’s time I’ll be in New York City, preparing for my own wedding, which takes place on Christmas Eve in the city. I’ll return not only with a ring and a husband, but also – I hope – a stack of images of NYC and a head full of inspiration for 2011!