Between shooting photo and video assignments for the New York Daily News, multimedia journalist Julia Xanthos uses her iPhone to capture fleeting, candid portraits of couples sharing intimate moments on the streets of NYC. Whether they are on park benches, waiting for the subway, or standing on a busy street corner, these amorous pairs are lost in their own worlds of love and affection. Xanthos posts her black-and-white snapshots under the hashtag #younglove on Instagram, providing a sweet glimpse of romance in the Big Apple.
Xanthos stresses that her project isn’t focused solely on subjects who are young in age, but more on the sensations of lightness and fresh youth that accompany relationships that have just started to bloom. She tells Today.com, “Even for a couple who have been together for a long time, I’m not saying they should live in the past, but why not remember the innocence and the sweetness of what it was like in the beginning?”
According to the photographer, the intimate project has had a significant impact on her own romantic life. She tells Instagram Blog, “Taking pictures of people kissing has helped me heal my heart and also open it up at the same time.” Xanthos, who recently got engaged and is planning to get married in May, says the feeling of falling in love is beyond words or pictures. “There’s no hashtag for it, I’ll say that. It’s just been the most beautiful experience of opening my heart up to somebody who is so incredible and is the love of my life. I don’t know any other way to put it.”
Julia Xanthos on Instagram
Julia Xanthos’ website
via [Instagram Blog], [Today.com]