Indigo Lewin
LOVE + CONNECTION vol. 03
When I first thought about what Futurism meant to me, I could only imagine the ideas of love and connection being reliable concepts that I wanted to project as my idea of the future. And so I planned my shoots with the ideas of friendship (Laura Bailey portraits of friends), romantic love (Ari Ashley’s wonderful images of her daughter Lily and her boyfriend Hugo) and sensual intimacy (Indigo Lewin’s brilliant pictures of touch and the body). I felt that, within the uncertain times that we found ourselves in, that these projects tapped into the energies in life that were really important – love and connection – the energy that sustained us and made our hearts full and our lives inspired.
Since then we have been plunged into more uncertainty with the Corona virus and all the ensuing fear and restrictions that it has brought with it. I am writing this in week 6 of lockdown from my garden. More than ever the forces of love and connection are what we need, and yet they have been so compromised for so many in self-isolation. I look back at these shoots and marvel at the joy and freedom that we luxuriated in when making them.
I feel a huge gratitude for the collective coming together of the teams that made the shoots happen, something that is now not possible.
We have all slowed down, edited and refined our existences and rely on much less to give us that sense of connection. Maybe we have found it within ourselves, connecting with the glorious light of early summer on our daily walks, or the joy of being with family without any distractions. The collective sense of surrender to what is happening has taken away the impulse to be busy and we have found
a new way to be that reveals our capacity to love and care for family and for those in need.
I hope we are able to retain some of this empathy and joy in others as we go back into life in its new form – and not to lose this connection and to trust that love is a powerful force that will see us through. -Cathy
