SAZIDA MARZIA – Photojournalism

The photo book I chose was “When We Were Strangers”. The book itself is different from a traditional book, from the way it’s bound to the papers it uses. The first few pages are see-through with words on each page, giving it the illusion that the further you dive into the pages, more is revealed. It shows a lot of intimate moments between the the two lovers. The picture subjects vary: the two men, a messy bed, moments during dates. The feelings the pictures emit are cozy and offer a sneak peek into their lives. The casualness and how laidback the pictures are are what makes this photo book work for me. It’s the quiet life. There’s no grand display and spectacle of love, it’s the moments in between.

The way the book is designed plays a role in this as well. Just like how the two lovers grew to understand each other, peeling back the layers to show their true self, the book has unconventional pages. Some of the pages fold, allowing you to “peel back the layers” just as they did. Because this book has two authors, the few pages that do have writing on them are written with two different languages, English and Spanish. They all recount when they were dating and how they each felt during certain moments.

The photo book certainly evokes that feeling of getting to know someone. Slowly, you learn likes and dislikes, what makes them who they are, and what it means to stick with someone. Flipping through the pages, I was able to get an idea of what their love looks like. Having a photo book like this as a testament and proof of one’s love is so powerful to me. It immortalizes them, and their love lives on even longer then they will.