London born photographer Chis Craymer recently launched his new book, Romance. Craymer wanted the book to be “essentially emotional rather than intellectual or fashion led.” As he states, “Romance for me was the perfect vehicle to make pictures which can covey a number of emotions…I wanted to try to make pictures which could be for example sexy, funny, joyful and also powerful and even soulful.” Craymer captures special, raw moments by enlisting the help of real life couples who have a strong sense of personal style and individuality. Their love shines through in each beautiful photo.
In a recent interview with Dazed Digital, Craymer provides additional insight into the Romance project. “When I first started this project I just wanted to make one test shoot with a couple. The first attempt was with two models who weren’t a real couple and frankly it rather showed. Somehow, the pictures lacked emotion, so I tried the next shoot with a real couple who were really going out together. This proved far more successful and from there I just kept on asking the models who inspired me with if they were interested in doing a shoot with their partner. I was specifically looking for people with a strong sense of personal style and individuality and in the end I worked with street cast couples as well as models. Once I had a number of shoots together I put them into a special portfolio which I called “Romance”. I initially used it as a way of showing my work in a raw form without any outside art direction or fashion concepts. The book is really the development of that particular portfolio of personal work I am totally thrilled with the results and am hoping the book will be a success.”
