In pictures: a euphoric celebration of love with no limits

When Adrián Alarcón Sánchez conceived of his latest project, he was going through a period of change. Finding himself between jobs and frustrated with the romantic prospects in his life, the young photographer turned his attention to love in the broader sense, a kind that defies stilted definitions and worn-out stereotypes. What came after was the photo zine LOVE., a joyous celebration of the word in all its messy, sexy, stupid glory.

“I’ve always felt constrained by conventional definitions of love and romantic relationships”, Sánchez says of his impetus to create the zine, adding that, “putting people in boxes is something I cannot stand – doing it with feelings just seems absurd to me”. With this ethos in mind, Sánchez takes us on an emotional journey full of blissful embraces and exuberant smiles, with 40 of the photographer’s friends and family along for the ride.

Although the pictures in LOVE. were taken fairly recently, Sánchez’s photographic practice has been over a decade in the making, starting out in fashion editorial before branching into a mode he found more fulfilling. “There was always a side of me wanting to show something different, more personal,” he reveals in a conversation over email. Initially, the photographer began by taking photographs of his hookups (“such a gay clichè” he says, frank and self-aware), but this then evolved “towards trying to show the people who surround me and who I love in a wider way”.

One of these surrounding people is Elin McCready, a professor in the English department of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. McCready, a close friend of Sánchez, not only features in the zine, but pens a heartfelt opening letter in honour of the photographer’s work. “A lot of us were told we would never know love,” she begins, “some of us believed it, internalised it, weaponised it against ourselves. But it was a lie, or at best a mistake. If proof was needed, it is here in these photos.”

Below, we chat to Sánchez about restrictive beauty standards, escaping heteronormativity and finally finding a home in Berlin.

Hi Adrián! Congratulations on the release of LOVE. What was the initial idea that inspired you to create the zine?

Adrián Alarcón Sánchez: Last year on Valentine’s Day I made two posts on Instagram with some of my archive pictures. I was feeling empowered, willing to show and uplift representations of love. This was somehow the beginning of the project, but I also felt the need to have something tangible, that you could touch and hold – so I decided to make a zine and put together all these different visions of love.

Does living in Berlin inspire your creativity in a specific way?

Adrián Alarcón Sánchez: Berlin is really my place. Here, at least if you surround yourself with people in the queer community – which is often closely linked to the city’s party scene – there’s a feeling of freedom, of understanding, of belonging. We are mostly queer people that are trying to escape heteronormativity and find a home in Berlin.

Does it feel different from your hometown of Valencia?

Adrián Alarcón Sánchez: It is of course different from my hometown. Valencia is a big city, and Spain is well known for its avant-garde and pro-queer laws, but I’m HIV positive and also doing sex work now. In my hometown, as well as in Milan which I also used to call home, being openly HIV positive brings stigma – and let’s not even talk about openly being a sex worker.

‘Most of my pictures are “stolen moments”. I don’t like when people pose... they don’t look their best or real self’ – Adrián Alarcón Sánchez

Is there something that attracts you to certain groups or people? A common quality that all your subjects share?

Adrián Alarcón Sánchez: There’s one thing that attracts me to take a picture of someone, and it is their beauty, but not a hegemonic, normative one. There’s beauty in every person, and each of us expresses it in a different way. When I photograph somebody, I just want to freeze in time their beauty and energy. All the people in the pics, at least in this project, are acquaintances, friends and family.

Tell me more about the letter from Professor Elin McCready that opens your zine. How did this relationship come about?

Adrián Alarcón Sánchez: Elin and I met in German class. I was telling Elin and other classmates about LOVE. and we started exchanging each other’s experiences. She told me about a project she made in Japan called Family Move with her collective MOM, about the lack of recognition that non-heteronormative families receive from the government, and we really vibed. I was just honest and told her I’m not very good at writing, and she offered to help me.

The idea [for McCready’s contribution] just came up naturally – kind of a love letter from the community to the community. To me, it was very special to let Elin talk about her vision of my project being a trans woman and, more importantly, having the role she has with her job and position.

All the photographs in LOVE. are shot using analogue photography. What is it about the method that attracted you?

Adrián Alarcón Sánchez: At the beginning, it was an aesthetic choice as I liked the way it looked more than digital. But slowly it became my choice because it allows you to really concentrate on what you’re doing – you have less shots. Film is expensive, so you really have to catch the moment, and my pics are all about the right moment at the right place. Most of my pictures are ‘stolen moments’. I don’t like when people pose. It modifies their behaviour and they don’t look their best or real self.

And finally, what does love mean to you?

Adrián Alarcón Sánchez: Love is a very important part of my life. I have a very particular relationship with love. When I started with this project I was single and very much into showing that love doesn’t come from only one person, and not only from a romantic side – but I’m still struggling to deconstruct that idea from my brain. I’m a hopeless romantic. Even if I’ve struggled in toxic and abusive relationships, I still believe in finding love.

My mom always says that I have a lot of love to give and I feel that she’s right. I’m always kissing, touching, hugging, taking care, worrying and giving advice to all my friends and people I appreciate, because love isn’t only the physical part of it. Even though right now, after some disappointments, I’ve decided to take a break from dating, I’ll channel all this love and affection towards me, my friends and community.

LOVE. by Adrián Alarcón Sánchez is showing at Molt Gallery in Berlin on February 14.

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