Love can manifest in unexpected ways. Like a stain on your new shirt that appears in the shape of a former lover's tattoo or the scar that transports you back to a summer bike ride with your first best friend.
Amid the wreckage of history's most devastating moments, love emerges as a resilient force. It is the heartbeat of our collective experience, persistently seeking us out even in the most unlikely places.
1. Harriet Michel and Galway Kinnell on Bloody Sunday, Photo by Charles Moore, March 1965, Getty Images. 2. New pleasure for Friday afternoon: biking at Chitgar Park, Tehran, Iran, Photo by Isabelle Eshraghi, 1999. 3. Johanna's hopeful letter from the Holocaust, Photo courtesy of Betty Kazin-Rosenbaum, December 1941, USHMM.
1. A mother washing her children amidst rubble in Gaza, Photo by Mohammed Zaanoun, 2023, Instagram. 2. Newlyweds standing amid the wreckage of Civil War in Beruit, Photo by Jay Ullal, 1983, An Archive of Love. 3. Julienne Lusenge, advocate for women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Photo by Jonathan Torgovnik, 2014, AJWS.
1. Joe and Julia Embracing, Photo by Roy DeCarava, 1953, The Estate of Roy DeCarava, courtesy David Zwirner. 2. Men kissing under a tree in Philadelphia, Photo by Kay Tobin, 1977, New York Public Library Digital Collections. 3. A Kiss in Palestine, Photo by Kai Wiedenhöfer, 2001, Visa Pour l'Image.
Love permeates every crevice of existence, lingering among the rubble of war, the passion of protest, and the uncertainty of desperate times. It is ubiquitous, ever-present, and a constant companion in our journey through tragedy. The undeniable proof lies in the involuntary space we continually make for it amidst the chaos of our world.
