• coming soon •

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COUPLE CLOTHING

text and photographs

by Erik Neumann

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In the summer of 2010 I spent two months studying

in Beijing, and before I left I’d read a blog post

about matching t-shirts and outfits for couples that

were popular in Korea and becoming more popular

in China. I thought it was kind of interesting and fun.

When I arrived in Beijing I started to photograph a

few of the couples and the more I did this, the more

interested I became in the subject until it started to

occupy the majority of my photographs. I started to

notice other instances of clothing coordination in

uniformed workers, high school kids and even tour

groups wearing matching hats, and it seemed to me that

it was all related in some way.

This work touches on notions of gender

representation, relationship dynamics and the influence

of North America on China’s cultural development and

I hope it may provide a focus for deeper consideration.

Although visually similar to street fashion, which is

concerned with what people are wearing, my attention

is on why people are wearing it and the social and

cultural context. •

© Erik Neumann

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© Erik Neumann

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BACHELORSphotographs by Claudiu Popescu

text by Ioana Pelehatăi

Bachelors need to be photographed, because they

are an endangered species. Men die younger

than women, so it is statistically within reason

that they might die out in a few years.

Bachelors do as they please. They spend their

nights in clubs, drink, and womanize without having to

answer to anyone. They go out with their boys, miss no

ball games, and get all the women they want.

Bachelors are sexy because they harbor a certain

mystique. You never get to learn their whole story.

They’re single because that’s the way they want it.

They alone know the whole reason behind that, but

there are plenty of other men (and women, too) looking

for an opportunity to find out.

Bachelors are a crying shame. Their homes are

unspeakably messy, they’re clueless about what to

wear, they eat whenever they remember to, and they

are completely helpless overall.

That about sums up all the clichés about

bachelors. With no preconceived idea as a starting

point, we aim to find out which ones are real, which

are fake, and maybe even reveal a couple of new ones,

which we would have never considered.

A preview of an ongoing photography project

accompanied by brief interviews with bachelors.

*bachelor, n. = financially independent male

human around the age of thirty, currently living on his

own and with no plans of changing the status quo for

a while.

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IN LOVE WITH

ROMANIA

Photographs by Gerrit Jan Robeer

Text by Tamara Robeer

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As time passes my attention more frequently

turns to found pictures. Looking at little

moments, a life passing and dreams realised. I

have to say those moments help me look forward and

create precious little moments for myself.

Three years ago I inherited an archive with

a couple of hundred black and white negatives; the

pictures belonged to my father, Gerrit Jan Robeer. I

started scanning them and slowly a new truth revealed

itself. He grew up in a Dutch catholic family with two

older sisters and lived in the house attached to the

church. My father wasn’t religious in his beliefs, just

a teenager during the flower power period: long hair,

flared jeans and a small moped. In June 1970 (20 years

old), he bought his first camera, made some test shots

and became addicted. To escape from his (western)

social environment and the family restrictions he made

holiday trips to Eastern Europe, surely also to anger his

parents, as they were afraid of the unknown. Romania

became the country he adored.

Valuable moments as a child were those during

diner, when your parents tell all the stories from

back in the days. My mother, Nela Marinescu, was

born in Bucharest and trained to be a gymnast. At

one point her team even shared a training space with

Nadia  Comăneci. She had numerous stories, which

sounded like fairy tales to me. In the beginning I didn’t

think they were true, as I grew older I realised what

they meant. She was at her grandparents’ home in a

Romanian countryside village. There were horses,

chickens and a big pig. In my memory the pig ended

up on the roof of the house because my mother made

him angry.

My father used to be the one telling stories

about how he met my mother. He also talked a lot

about Romania as a country, but never mentioned his

photographs. The first time they met was in Eforie

Nord, he was different, did what he wanted, had a great

smile and long hair. She was a boy-ish girl always on the

look out for some kind of adrenaline rush. After that

summer my father told her he would come back, she

didn’t believe him. A few months later he got back into

his car and drove straight to Bucharest.

Often he told the story about the fried chicken

breast my grandmother gave him to eat on these trips. A

couple of miles before the Romanian border he started

throwing them out of the window, one by one. As soon

as he arrived there, he was told to open the car, step out

and go to an office where the customs officer just let

him sit for a while. My father enjoyed taking his time,

Bucharest, 1974 © Gerrit Jan Robeer

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Brașov, 1974

© Gerrit Jan Robeer

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WHAT DO YOU MISS?

photographs by Ioana Cîrlig

interview by Peter Brook

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Iordana, 49, is serving an 8 year sentence for

performing illegal abortion. She misses the fish soup

they cook in the Danube Delta, working in her tailor

shop and spending time outside, in nature, she misses

her family and her home in Chilia Veche.

© Ioana Cîrlig

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Aida, 54, is serving a 10 year sentence for murder. She

misses watching TV, taking her grandchildren to the

park, taking care of her family and taking walks in the

city.

© Ioana Cîrlig

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Luminița, 28, is serving a 3 year sentence for drug

trafficking. She misses going out to restaurants with her

family, going out and playing with her 2 children, she

misses her home and her family and cooking for them.

© Ioana Cîrlig

SNOGby Rankin

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The Sea of Galilee, 2004 © Yaakov Israel

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NEW BEGINNINGS

by Alexandra Dincă

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© Alexandra Dincă

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© Alexandra Dincă

www.love-issue.com