Lovers

I think that for every moment that people love one another, we are ahead. I find this book beautiful, for it captures couples who were in that moment, deeply attached to each other. The book is called Lovers, not Marriage. And the moments caught in this book are priceless. There are a thousand ways to photograph a single individual, and these photos are in rich black and white with dark darks and light lights and strong midtones. I was taken by not just the faces, but the textures: the look of happiness in two men's eyes who are dressed in their rough tweed winter coats; the sophisticated poets standing ironically in a disheveled farmyard, just the curve of her breasts alone so alive; a close-up of a woman of legendary beauty with perfect skin and her lover's face close by with its deeply ravaged and pitted skin; and one of the most haunting photographs ever of a man and woman in an all white room with nothing in it but a white bed, and her long black rough and wavy hair flowing over the side of the bed to the floor, and her lover lying atop her like a child at fullest peace...this picture is grainy and atmospheric and perfect also. I tend to look at photographs not just for the subjects, not just for the postures and gestures, not even just for the technical skill of the printing, but also for what emanates/ed in that moment the camera eye snapped closed and opened again. In this sense, even the more posed photos with fine grain, are poignant. This is why I did not name the famous people these photos are of and about. The photos stand for themselves and are not images of faces and bodies, but a stop motion in time in a great story. Those who know at depth the fore and after stories of the subjects are even more enriched in viewing these moments of time when the loved also loved in return. It is true that there are many forms of love, tired and grim love, tenacity with disappointment love, dedicated love without care, forever love and cherishment, tender and awake love, and also there is a kind of true love that is fleeting, but nonetheless real, just like the camera's eye snapping closed and then open again... imprinting a deep image on each lover for all life...regardless of longevity, regardless of all else. I think that for every moment that people love one another, we are ahead.

This is the type of book that people will actually pick up and delve into. Photo books don't have the same punch, and longer articles are too much to invite the casual brouser to read. Each profiled couple is one page worth of commentary and the facing page a black and white photo, so that your guests can read one or two entries easily. Yeah, the Anne Heche/Ellen Degeneras entry is a bust, but most of the rest are classic couples. As a coffee table book it is 5 stars -- among the best -- but I'll take a star off since as a regular book you would probably want more photos and details.

I thought that this book was very captivating was full of emotion