{"id":291103,"date":"2026-02-14T14:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/291103\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T14:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:18:09","slug":"intimate-self-portraits-from-lovers-all-over-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/291103\/","title":{"rendered":"Intimate self-portraits from lovers all over the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lovers on Film<\/p>\n

Gallery \/ 15 images<\/p>\n

Love is in the air \u2013 and on the walls of Shoreditch\u2019s Photobook Cafe \u2013 this Valentine\u2019s weekend, as hearts beat in anticipation of the debut exhibition Lovers on Film<\/a>. More than 13,000 sweethearts from around the world have submitted intimate, analogue photographs of themselves alongside their lovers, melting even the most frigid hearts. There\u2019s a palpable sense of humanity in these images: candid snapshots captured in bedroom mirrors, bathroom reflections, and other familiar, private spaces. It feels both deeply personal yet entirely relatable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Having spent the past five years managing this impressive archive of submissions, photographer Jack Gunn<\/a> and his team now present a curated selection, proving that love is real \u2013 and can be found everywhere. \u201cThere\u2019s something special about a moment that only happens once,\u201d Gunn explains, noting that his love for photography began with a formative childhood experience in Norwich, where an art teacher first introduced him to the magical process of cyanotype. \u201cMost of us have photographs from our childhood that we remember vividly, not because they\u2019re perfect, but because they\u2019re fixed in time and in a generation of AI and endlessly editable images, analogue photographs feel more important than ever.\u201d Gunn points out the similarities between falling in love and analogue photography: \u201cthe patience, the excitement, the risk, the care you have to take, knowing you can\u2019t endlessly redo the moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"AlexaAlexa Alexiades, Spain@alexa__alexiades<\/p>\n

Having moved to London during the pandemic, Gunn became furloughed from his job working with one of the UK\u2019s most prolific artists and began looking for something worthwhile to keep himself busy. \u201cI had so much time on my hands, so I started the project with my partner at the time, Ance,\u201d he says. \u201cWe wanted to create something about connection, something that lockdown made us all long for.\u201d He says that Lovers on Film felt like it came out of nowhere, launching the Instagram account with a simple blue icon. \u201cIt filled a gap on our social media timelines that felt missing; something about love.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a wealth of beautiful moments that are each so personal to each couple, it\u2019s hard to choose just one favourite amateur snap. \u201cThe most powerful ones are when there\u2019s a story with the submission,\u201d Gunn tells Dazed. \u201cOne particularly heartbreaking story from a girl named Jerah in the Philippines springs to mind. She sends the photograph and writes to me to tell me her boyfriend has sadly passed away, he was a huge fan of the project, and she wrote this beautiful poem about him to go along with the photograph that he had taken. It ends with the line: I am here with all my ashes, floating, drifting in circles just to come back to you again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s me, or just London in February, but the world feels colder and colder,\u201d Gunn says, describing an overarching sense of desolation that\u2019s so present in both the online and offline world today. \u201cThe internet feels so cold and emotionless, and every post we see is competing with the next one.\u201d The role of still imagery in the attention economy also raises concerns about how photography is perceived on a deeper level. \u201cWe almost need to retrain our brains to see the power in the mundane, the beauty of the quiet moments,\u201d he reflects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"Ceci\u0301liaCeci\u0301lia Blanco, Brazil@Cecisblanco<\/p>\n

At its peak, Lovers on Film amassed 150,000 followers as it grew in popularity online. Inevitably, that surge of attention led to Instagram\u2019s algorithm removing some of the more risqu\u00e9 images, alongside a punishing shadowban. Depressingly, Jack Gunn noticed that reports increased when the subjects were LGBTQ+. \u201cIt\u2019s so awful that we live in such a world, but this is what art is for,\u201d he says. It\u2019s also why showing up in physical spaces, free from oppressive community guidelines, feels more important than ever.<\/p>\n

So far, there have been over 10,000 submissions. If you\u2019re reading this and are also interested in sending a photo through, then you\u2019re more than welcome to do so through DMs on their Instagram and especially so if there\u2019s a story attached. With hopeful plans for a future photobook, publishers should also get in contact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"LaniaLania and Mani Reshad, Iran@deyr_e.moghan<\/p>\n

\u201cAs this project turns six years old, it\u2019s really made me look at the photographs from a new light,\u201d Gunn concludes. \u201cSome of these photos are now a record of a relationship that no longer exists.\u201d He admits that love comes very naturally to him \u2013 almost too quickly, if anything. \u201cI have struggled with it a lot in the past few years,\u201d he reveals, heart on his sleeve. \u201cBut even in difficult times, you cannot give up hope with love – it means everything to me, really, which is why I feel so passionately about the project.\u201d On the flip side, he candidly reveals the difficulty of seeing daily photographs of happy couples when you\u2019re going through heartbreak. \u201cBut it shows that love does exist. You cannot give up.\u201d If you are reading this, the curse is lifted. Have a good Valentine\u2019s Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lovers on Film is on show at Photobook Cafe in Shoreditch over Valentine\u2019s Weekend, you can find the event poster here.<\/a><\/p>\n