TWO
Love lasts more than a life. “Give us bread, but give us roses, because hearts starve as well as bodies”.
“Two” is a tribute to love, which takes life in so many different and amazing ways. Ray and the models Miriam and Federica, also a couple in the daily life, gave shape, through the camera, to images that highlight the pureness of the feelings, typical of the relationships of love. One of Ray’s priorities is to give us images where everything goes beyond the locations, the models or the moments captured in the shots. And in this collection, we can see Miriam and Federica, but at the same time we see what invisible line lives in them and in all of us, as well as in all the human beings who will be born in future or ever had life in past.
“Yes, this is the main meaning of the editorial”, says Ray, “it’s that amazing and invisible bond that unites us all, no matter what century we’re living in”. “I gave a no-time and no-space atmosphere to the images, to give emphasis just to what is uniting the girls. Can we describe what it is? We can try, but better let their bodies and their eyes, both opened or closed, speak for them”. “I’d love to thank Miriam and Federica, for being in this project, “Two”. Having them has been really nice. I’d love also to let you hear their voice -continues Ray- and their point of view, already expressed through the images, and now through Miriam’s words”.
Here below is a conversation, which took place during the photoshoot, between Ray and Miriam, that we share with our readers.
Ray: “Two” is a collection of photos about couples, what do you love the most about being in a couple?
Miriam: “What I love mostabout being in a couple is first of all the complicity that is created witheach other and the continuous exchange of intimate ideas and thoughts. I stronglybelieve in the fact that in the couple there are still two distinct people, whodo not necessarily just complete each other, but who enrich each other, whosupport each other in the most complicated situations and who know how to laughtogether. Thanks to Federica I learned to appreciate myself, to take thingsmore lightly and, most importantly, without her doing anything special, I beganto have more self-esteem and therefore have the strength to face things thatbefore I would have avoided, moreover she taught me to be less harsh. I canbetter express my every mood I’m in, without feeling judged, because she understandsme, and when she cannot understand me, she tries to put herself in my shoes andhelp me to externalize things better. Being two implies a continuous work on oneself,it implies commitment and dedication to the other without ever hindering eachother’s freedom. This is what I love about being in two, the fact that, even ifin couple, everyone is free to be what he/she is, being at the same timetogether with the other. It’s actually a team”.
Ray: “Would you say that love is... a simple or difficult thing?”
Miriam: “In my opinion,love is neither easy nor difficult. I am a person who often sees either blackor white, but in love there are infinite colors that cannot be excluded. Fallingin love is easy, loving is difficult: when the spark goes off it’s all pink andflowers but making a commitment to love someone is not easy. Falling in love islike sprinting a hundred meters, loving is an obstacle marathon, and a marathonin two. But this marathon is absolutely not something negative, on thecontrary, it is a wonderful journey in oneself and in the person who is next tous, it’s a discovery of ourselves and the other slowly, step by step. And whenyou are tired, angry or believe you can’t make it, your partner is there nextto you ready to pick you up and carry you over any obstacle to the finish line,every obstacle that life throws in front of you, and I’d say every goal you wantto achieve, no matter whether big or small”.
Ray: “I remember so many icons in history, Maria Antonietta and Fersen, Bonnie and Clyde, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and many more. So distant and so close. Love is eternal and you are them and they are you?”
“In the world and in history this is certain, love unites us all. Whatever kind of love it may be, this continues in time and space: who, reading Shakespeare, 400 years before our time, does not see himself in his writings, especially when he is in love. Or Dante, 700 years ago, who finished his greatest work with the phrase “Love that moves the sun and other stars”. And that’s right, love makes us do unthinkable things, makes people crazy, moves the world and gives us the strength to face new adventures. These famous couples you mentioned, made immortal by their individual figures, in love they were exactly like us, in love they were people who spurred each other on, accepted each other in their strengths and flaws, overcoming all adversities to continue their path in two. So yes, I feel like answering that I am them and they are me. When we love each other, when we love someone or something, we are all different but at the same time all the same, we understand each other and we also find ourselves in other couples’ stories, experiencing something similar to what has been experienced by them”.
“Two”. Are we just Two when we are partnered, or are we many more? Living with us?
