A Field Guide to Love ❤️
Happy Valentine's Day!
Field Guide Vol. 241
Valentine's Day can be about a lot of things—a time to curse ex-boyfriends, celebrate the "gals" and "pals" in your life or to invest in candlelit dinners full of romance. We're dedicating this week's Field Guide to all things love and romance in honor of Valentine’s Day today. We begin with Maika Elan’s photo series offering personal windows into every day queer life from our Vietnam guide. Join us as we also look at the early roots of the holiday, Valentine's Day weddings en masse and readings from Chile to Tehran.
The Pink Choice
By Maika Elan
Many people say that they are open about homosexuality, but when I showed my photos of LGBTQ couples in intimate moments, most people found them disgusting and unacceptable. Their reactions were a source of inspiration to me. My goal was to make photos about queer life that incite feelings of natural, beautiful, romantic love. I chose to capture daily activities of queer couples, casual moments that can feel familiar to everyone.
Many artistic portraits of LGBTQ people in Vietnam tend to focus on either deviance (especially in movies, with images of homosexuals portrayed in ridiculous clothing and makeup, mincing, with shrewish or rude manners) or solely symbolic images. In photography, gay people are not presented as themselves; if they are, they’re usually photographed from behind or with masks on. These all further misunderstanding of queer life rather than encourage more understanding perspectives. In turn, LGBTQ people become even more intimidated and isolated.
The Pink Choice has a different approach: it seeks out personal stories using direct language and uses documentary photography to capture people’s real moments.
Media stories about gay life in Vietnam usually end in tragedy, especially in movies. On one hand, this tragic style of storytelling can make audience members more sympathetic and understanding of the difficulties that LGBTQ people experience. But playing up the the drama can also cause misunderstandings, promoting the idea that the lives of queer people are vulnerable and full of regret, and that the choice to “come out” is an effort against the community’s way of life. But what is true, in Vietnam as everywhere, is that many queer people live happily, at peace with their identity.
The Pink Choice is a series of photos about the love of gay couples with a focus on sharing space, affectionate touch and, most importantly, the synchronized rhythm of lovers in their life together.
Did you know?
The Festival of Sant Jordi in Barcelona is the Catalan equivalent of Valentine’s Day. This romantic festival takes place on April 23 when locals exchange roses and books with their lovers, a tradition that began in the 1500s. On this day, love is in the air on the streets of Barcelona which are filled with people buying and selling books and roses for their lovers as well as for friends and family members.
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