From tender sapphic moments amid heteronormative porn shoots to a chronicle of frenetic flirting in the digital age, we’ve gathered together a selection of photo books straddling the twin peaks of romantic love and desire. Whether you’re a Valentine’s Day participant or an abstainer, there will undoubtably be something to take your fancy from the selection below…

SARA LORUSSO, AS A FLOWER

Sara Lorusso has been fascinated by taking photographs of the human body ever since she was first given a camera at the age of 16. Always working in analogue and often turning the lens on herself to explore intimacy and the experience of inhabiting a body – such as menstruation and nudity – Lorusso lends a dreamy beauty to everything she commits to film. 

Flowers occur throughout the Italian-born photographer’s work as a potent emblem of love, nature, beauty, sexuality and burgeoning life. As A Flower presents incredibly tender semi-nude portraits in which the recurring, richly symbolic emblem of the flower evokes romance, singularity, fragility, tenacity and ephemeral beauty. 

Published by Witty Books and available here now.

MASAHISA FUKASE, FROM WINDOW

Shot over the course of a summer in Hokkaido, Japan, From Window is the product of a “season of compulsion” in the life of photographer Masahisa Fukase. Already an obsessive documentor of those around him, Fukase turned his attention towards Yoko Wanibe, his semi-estranged wife [it’s complicated]. Every morning, Fukase ritualistically photographed her from their fourth floor apartment as she left for work. 

In some shots, Wanibe performs for her husband’s camera – sticking out her tongue, posing, waving. Other pictures capture her in a less amenable mood and she pouts and sulks. Gallerist Michael Hoppen, who last year published the complete set in an beautiful volume, explained, “You could say Fukase was drawing on Yoko’s experience as a trained actress. There’s a kind of performative equilibrium that disturbs the traditionally acknowledged power dynamics between the photographer and model.”

The marriage did not last. From Window not only anticipates the loss of Wanibe – capturing her leaving over and over again – but immortalises their time together and tells a story of the photographer’s consuming love. 

Published by Michael Hoppen Gallery and available here.

JESS T. DUGAN, LOOK AT ME LIKE YOU LOVE ME

Look at me like you love me is study of gender and sexuality – recurring themes in the work of Jess T. Dugan. In this intensely personal body of work, the nonbinary, queer artist contemplates desire, intimacy, and selfhood. Bringing together portraits and self-portraits, stil lifes and fragments of confessional, diaristic writing, Dugan traces the contours of their proximity and distance with others while reflecting on their own identity. The images within feel like a series of deeply private moments which we, as the viewer, are simultaneously implicated and intruding.

Published by MACK and available here. 

EZEKIEL, SMUT, VOLUME II: VOYEURISM

London-based photographer Ezekiel investigates the psychosexual landscape of online gay porn in the most recent iteration of their ongoing project, SMUT. Delving into the most-searched catagories on gay porn sites, Ezekiel depicts the plotpoints of dominant fantasy archetypes in a series of phto stories including “The Cruiser”, “The Checkup” and “The Spanking”. 

As such, SMUT, Volume II: Voyeurism not only invites us to adopt the voyeuristic perspective of a spectator on a porn site, but also raises questions about the production and proliferation of our fantasties. “Our main goal for volume two was to immerse the audience in the unique gay worlds we’ve crafted, openly encouraging them to adopt a voyeuristic perspective,” explained Ezekiel when we spoke to them earlier this year. “It’s essentially a playful, tongue-in-cheek commentary on the eccentricities of gay pornography.”

The second volume of SMUT also asks invites us to consider the performative nature of sexual fantasy and how it’s enacted in porn. “I wanted to emphasise the ludicrousness of these mainstream categories and how they’ve essentially stripped voyeuristic behaviours of their true essence,” Ezekiel explained. “Authentic voyeurism hinges on the subject being unaware of being observed or recorded, but in the gay pornography that attempts to depict this, everyone is an actor and complicit in the scenario. They’re all in on the joke, so it sort of turns into a flamboyant, theatrical display. I wanted to reimagine the absurdity and performative nature of these videos and splash in a touch of fashion to elevate the theatrics.”

SMUT, Volume II: Voyeurism is available here.

KARLA HIRALDO VOLEAU, ANOTHER LOVE STORY

For those who may feel a little jaded about romance, Karla Hiraldo Voleau’s Another Love Story is a love story that doesn’t end well. 

What began as a study of intimacy became a study of betrayal as the photographer discovered her lover was living a double life and conducting another relationship. Voleau’s photo story reenacts seemingly loving yet deceptive moments, inviting viewers to witness a performance of intimacy.

“The blurring of reality and fiction in this project mimics what I lived through,” the photographer told Dazed last year. “It’s quite a literal transcription of my feelings and of a relationship where you don’t have any idea who is in the pictures. It becomes almost nauseating that this happy loving man looking at me with tender eyes and smiling is putting on a façade.”

Published by Morel Books and available here. 

ALEC SOTH, NIAGRA

Alec Soth’s photo book Niagra turns away from the wonders of the raging, monolithic body of cascading water and instead investigates the culture of romance that has sprung up in this famed honeymoon destination. Observing the newlyweds who flock to the town as well as the artefacts and signifiers of romance, Niagra is a study of desire and fantasy set against a series of motels, parking lots, pawn shops and bars. 

Published by MACK and available here now. 

LINN PHYLLIS SEEGER, YOU I EVERYTHING ELSE

You I Everything Else documents the language of post-digital love, presenting a flurry of images, texts, emojis and screenshots that recall the febrile text exchanges of early romance. Using fragments of private messages and social media screenshots, Linn Phyllis Seeger reveals the “ecstasy of communication” and frenetic back-and-forth that characterises modern romance. 

Published by Skinnerboox an available here now. 

CARLY RIES, CENTREFOLD

Artist Carly Ries’ recent photo book Centrefold reconceptualises imagery from 70s and 80s porn mags. Presenting these pictures to us in new configurations alongside her own contemporary nudes, Ries’s monograph not only invites us to reconsider the relationship between objectivity and subjectivity but also actively redistributes the power of the much-vaunted “gaze”. 

“From a young age, I was taking pictures of women and curious about how people depicted bodies and sexuality,” the New York-based photographer told Dazed in a recent interview. “Over time, I started asking myself, what does it mean when I take a picture of someone naked?” 

In Ries’ hands, a series of tender, nuanced exchanges emerge from the pages of very traditional, heteronormative porn photo stories shot by men for the pleasure of other men. “They were clearly made by men for men,” she explained, reflecting on the many girl-on-girl editorials. But what intrigued the artist were the in-between moments and the genuine interactions and exchanges between the models, especially the display of lesbian desire. “I tried to find the places that looked like an actual connection between the two people, not because I thought it was necessarily sexual, but because they were colleagues.” In this way, Centrefold not only explores the power of seeing and being seen, but also examines the elusive, fleeting moments of admiration, lust, and friendship that can exist in the most contrived, performative environments.

Centerfold is available to buy here now.