In celebration of Valentine’s Day, we’ve curated a selection of intimate portraits from photographers who have a significant body of work devoted to their husband, wife, partner, or lover. The images below explore intangible emotions, from new, lustful love to lengthy, studied intimacy to a love transformed or lost.





1 / 11 Chevron Chevron Nicholas Pye and Sheila Pye , “Sitting on a Unicorn” (2004). “Playing self-invented, absurdist, and at times juvenile games, Sheila and I developed a situation or stage for power struggles between female and male to play out. This photograph deals with the meaning of language through abjection,” Nicholas told me. “The camera had always been a tool to explore the deeper side of loving relationships for Nick and me,” Sheila continued. “I think that when we decided to go our separate ways, it was a bit like cutting off a limb… so art was a way of avoiding that pain. We still make a lot of photographic and video art together, and shifting our love into a brotherly-sisterly realm actually made our work stronger.” From the series “The Paper Wall.”