‘Investigation of Love’ is an exploration on the abstract notion of love, determining whether photographic evidence is enough to prove the presence of love. The project was inspired by an application for a Dutch residence permit. The couple were required to share photographs of the places they visited together and things they did; objects form a story within the relationship, items they gave each other, purchased, found, or stole together. An anonymous immigration officer assessed the evidence to determine whether Russian-born Lilia Luganskaia was allowed to stay in the Netherlands with her lover.
“We fell in love and lived happily ever after’ wasn’t a satisfying answer for the grave looking officers at the Immigration Department”, Luganskaia told GUP. “They said: if you love him, you better prove it”, she added.
The collection of 514 personal objects is handled as evidence and has been photographed in a clean, catalogued environment and is displayed in the same way as a family photo album . It includes a set of dessert forks purchased at the Texel island flea market, postcards, the furniture which the couple bought together, books which they recommended to each other, letters from friends and relatives and even a dog.
The project asks whether several pictures of a couple justify love? And if not, how many more images would it take to do so? Is it at all possible to depict an emotional bond with photography? What other objects can prove love as well as the book does?
Image Analysis
The style of the image is very minimalistic due to its use as evidence. It prefers to remain conceptual, suggesting the idea of love through symbolism. The dog is the focus of the image, being placed in the centre on a wooden podium to represent its importance in telling the narrative of the couple’s relationship.
The dog featured in the series could be seen as a symbol of loyalty, between the couple as well as towards the dog that they care for in a parental manner. It says so much about their relationship in that they have obviously been together a long time, long enough to adopt a pet together, however the name of the dog is not given showing that there is still some aspects of their relationship that would rather stay private as intimate connections to each other.
Seen in the image is a lot of the colour ‘White’, in the background and in the fur of the dog. White is often seen as a representation of innocence suggesting that the love they share is pure.
The environment in the image appears to be well lit suggesting that artificial lighting was used.