This series began with a photograph of a young couple deeply in love. When I developed the film several weeks later, I discovered a light leak in my camera. A streak of light had appeared between them, almost accidentally dividing the image in two.
Some time later, I learned that the relationship had ended. Looking again at the photograph, the accidental line of light seemed to take on another meaning: a visual fracture, anticipating something that had not yet happened.
From this image, the series developed into an exploration of young love: intimacy, desire, hope, and the belief that something can last. I am interested in the fragile space where hope and impermanence coexist—in the desire to believe in a bond while knowing, perhaps, that it may not endure.
The work also looks at what comes after: absence, sadness, loss, and heartbreak. It explores both sides of love—the intensity of feeling deeply connected to another person and the vulnerability that comes with the possibility of losing that connection.
The title, Love Will Tear Us Apart, is borrowed from the Joy Division song, which became an emblematic song of love and separation for my generation.
Through these photographs, I attempt to capture not only love itself, but the emotional landscape that surrounds it: the hope of beginning, the uncertainty of holding on, and the sadness of letting go.
Patricia Abarca de la Fuente 