Intimate Portraits of Young Lovers in San Francisco’s Dolores Park

Intrigued by the idea of what it means to be young and in love, San Francisco based photographer Leah Fasten explores what intimacy looks like through photography. For her series Lovers in Dolores Park, she approaches strangers who have a clear physical attraction to one another. After asking politely if she can photograph these young couples embracing, Fasten would get up close to capture a kiss, a cuddle or a loving gaze.

Fasten has been visiting Dolores Park for over a decade. To her, it’s a place that symbolizes leisure and youth in love, especially the kind of connections that can exist only in our 20s. “I’m interested in a certain quality of nostalgia for that time, and the fantasy that surrounds youth,” she explains. While these young couples are in part performing in front of Fasten’s camera, their displays of affection are genuine and real.

All images © Leah Fasten

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