PLATONIC LOVE IS THE NEW ROMANTIC LOVE

To me, female friendship is getting ready for a night out, gossiping and laughing until your belly hurts, being your most vulnerable self, as you would be with a sister, or a mother.

“This kind of love might not kiss you in the rain or propose marriage. But it will listen to you, inspire and restore you.”

— Dolly Alderton, Everything I know about love

I’m only 23, but if there is one thing love and heartbreak have taught me, it is that your friends should be the loves of your life, as much as your lovers.

From the moment we are born, our whole world is sugar coated with unreal narratives of what “true love” should be. Romantic love stories are always at the core of books, movies, and lives…

The French movie Tout ce qui brille (2010), a touching story imagined by Géraldine Nakache, might be one exception. Just like Dolly Alderton in Everything I Know About Love, she captures how precious and intense female friendships are.

Inspired by them, I captured images of my models and best friends Lalla and Onor, to portray what that love looks like.

To me, female friendship is getting ready for a night out, gossiping and laughing until your belly hurts, being your most vulnerable self, as you would be with a sister, or a mother.

But it is also about feeding each other’s confidence when going out into the world. That often looks like improvised photo shoots out on the pavement, when you suddenly become a makeup artist and a professional photographer.

When I think of it, this is how I started doing photoshoots, just for fun, with my friends: The beauty of coming back full circle.