by Margot Pierce
Madrid-based photographer Marta Soul has captured a stunning series of images, entitled Idilios, where she poses with 18 different men while kissing them. The red headed protagonist, Soul’s alter-ego, never faces the viewer: she and each lover, always perfectly dressed and flawlessly positioned, leave us only imagining their story as their feelings and expressions are concealed and the only thing we know about them is their kiss.
“Idilios (Spanish lyrical word for ‘romances’ in English) shows a series of romantic recreations based on amorous experiences represented by the same woman (the artist’s alter ego) kissing different men in various places. The series is constructed in an ideal context in order to accentuate the experience of romantic love. A jewellery shop, a golf course and a luxury hotel appear to the observer as appropriate sites to stage romance. Experiences become more intense and happiness gets materialised. The kiss is the main act and the only one, a symbol of the stereotyped romantic situation,” the photographer explains.
