STELLA ASIA Consonni's 'Love Me' Explores Intimacy & Relationships

Couples kiss and share tender embraces in this visceral celebration of love and physical connection

Taking pictures of couples in the midst of passion might seem like a paradoxical form of self-therapy if you have just suffered a breakup, but for London-based photographer Stella Asia Consonni, this was the remedy of choice after her own separation.

“Working on clips of tender intimacy was painful but it also reminded me that love still exists,” Consonni says.

With scenes of fingertips tracing lines on a torso, and hungry eyes half-shrouded in the shadow of a partner’s smile, Love Me is a deeply sensual celebration of youth and love in all its forms.

Originally conceived as a photographic series, this film places the audience between the sheets with real-life couples who invited the Italian-born filmmaker into their homes. Love Me puts the amorous portraits from Consonni’s photo series into motion, and includes a dulcet bedroom-toned voiceover by Kedar Williams-Stirling (known for his role as Jackson Marchetti in Netflix’s Sex Education), who contemplates the nature of love and connection.

“We’re at an historical and political point in time where hatred and selfishness seem to prevail,” says Consonni.

“I wanted to capture that unique moment where only you and your partner exist and the rest of the world becomes background noise.”

This article was first published by NOWNESS, May 31 2019.