book — //INSIDE//

TWO HEARTS, TWO LENSES, ONE LOVE

From first glance to unbridled passion, from last night to first morning together, falling in love is an adventure that many can vividly see in their mind’s eye. But for photographers Luke Abby and Carlos Darder, who became an item the moment they met one hot summer night of 2019 in Mallorca, that initial spark bloomed into a project, which they have now unveiled in the shape of a book.

 In Falling in Love, lo-fi photography and unposed snapshots capture what it means to for love to blossom and for a creative mind to open up to another. Abby’s intimate portraits of sensuality and tenderness mesh with Darder’s frank, uncut captures of daily routines blend together for a thoughtful chronicle of the small gestures and caring glances that cost nothing that amount to grand sentiment and genuine feelings.

What was the first thing you thought when you saw each other?

 Luke: From the moment we met we were both instantly attracted to each other and I ended up making the move a few moments later. I thought he was super duper cute!  

You decided to document your relationship practically from the first instant – why?

  Carlos: Documenting everything is part of my daily life. I capture it at any moment: happiness, sadness, craziness, every person I meet that I think I’m really interested in that I wanna have a pic of them forever. With Luke, it started out just documenting our love and how it was progressing. We basically started falling in love the first time we met. I actually moved from my house to his apartment in Majorca the second night he was on the island. It was crazy and beautiful.

You are often traveling for work, so you’re perhaps used to being separated for weeks at a time. How do you stay connected?

  Carlos: We are constantly communicating. Texts, sending pictures, selfies, what we see. We do a lot of sexting.  

How is your photographic practice interwoven with your relationship at this point?

Luke: My individual work still remains separate but this book was a collaboration. It was nice to do it together and feed off each other’s thoughts and ideas. Carlos only really shoots on film whereas I jump between that and digital. For this we agreed we would keep it all analog.

No words among the images, credits are at the end: Why did you make the choice of letting the images speak exclusively for themselves, and for you?   

Carlos: We did that just so the viewer can take what they like from the images. Also since the format is quite small, l we wanted the photos to breathe a bit more so having the captions at the back made sense.  

What have been the reactions of those you have shown the book to so far?  

Carlos: It’s been pretty good. Our friends are really happy about it, there is a moment after working on it for half a year where you stop really seeing it from a real view of point. You just see work and it kind of loses that little bit of the first impression, the first time we saw the first copy we cried.  

Luke: Some were concerned it would effect my other work with commercial clients, but the thought of that was a little sad. Some told me to go for it. I’m glad I did–it feels liberating.  

And then James Bidgood, a photographer who is quite the camp legend, calls your book “tawdry” and that’s the review quote you chose. What about that word resonated with you?

  Luke: James has been a friend of mine for the last few years and I asked if he would do a piece of writing as a review on the book. I showed him the very first layout back in January by emailing him a PDF file and I thought his response was just very him and funny. Tawdry is such a great word. It means “showy but cheap and of poor quality.”  

To borrow the name of the relationships section of the New York Times, how do you define “modern love”?

  Luke: Teamwork! To be with someone and create with them is a challenge but very rewarding. For our relationship, art, patience, balance, communication and all of that is definitely magic ingredients. It’s also important for me to feel inspired by my partner.

What has confinement brought to your level of intimacy?

Carlos: I think it just helped us to learn more about each other, much better. Sometimes we want to kill each other, though.