From a personal perspective I can't think of a subject more simple yet complex or important yet under-valued as Blacklove. The concept of love unfortunately can be very subjective. It has many meanings for everyone. How it feels, how it is expressed, how it is given, and how it is received. When tackling the issue of Black Love the expression "it's complicated" takes on a whole new meaning. African Americans have their own set of challenges when it comes to how they relate to one another. The social constructs of racism, colorism, homophobia, education, misogyny along with many other things all play their part in impacting these relationships and it can take a toll. But what JerSean Golatt has done with his Black Love project is take all of that out of it and reduced it to the purest form of love that can be expressed in the form of a picture. Last night I had the opportunity to attend the opening show at the Cultivar Coffee Shop.
photo | JerSean Golatt
The images are of hope, friendship, honesty, and most importantly love. Each one representing a story that gives a snapshot of that couple's journey in love. What Golatt is able to achieve is capturing the most authentic representations of what true love is. It's a small glimpse of the intangible bond that is shared by those who have chosen to take the journey of life together. I'm a bit of a romantic so it may resonate with me a little more but the Black Love project is the perfect example of saying so much without saying anything at all. He's even taken it a step further by launching a website that will continue to tell these stories and couples are allowed to submit their own love story. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and if that's true then there aren't enough words to capture the worth of these photos.
Photo | JerSean Golatt
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