Advanced Love – What a Beautiful Book!

I love collecting books. Not kindle type reads for me but the joy of holding the book, feeling its weight, touching the smooth paper and the rhythmic turning of pages. Hard covers are a delight  and immediately give the book a presence. As my hands stiffen with age and cold I have to balance the book on a cushion if it’s a hefty tome. I like the smell of new books. A bit like the smell of new cars, or coffee they bring anticipation and possibility. I like novels, and biographies even more. I like photography books and books with lavish images that stir my imagination. Since I began Viva 70 I scour the bookshops for what people are writing about ageing well and positive images of people who are comfortable with themselves as they age.

Some weeks ago I spotted Advanced Love by Ari Seth Cohen. What a joyful book! Cohen says in his introduction…“For the last ten years I have had the privilege of documenting the style and stories of some of the world’s most interesting and inspiring seniors.”

 

Ari Seth Cohen is a New Yorker and also lives in Los Angeles. He has a blog called Advanced Style. He has made a documentary and written two books about older people and their sense of style. He takes photographs of people 60 plus who like to be individual and create their own sense of what style means for  this age. Advanced Love documents the love of older couples. Strong vibrant images with soundbites in words. There are stories and advice about how to keep relationships going for the long haul.

Nancy and Clovis
Just keep strengthening the commitment

Jim and Alfredo from Mexico say…” We met the old fashioned way…in a bar. We were married in 2008…we never wanted to have just a civil union…..we wanted the same rights and benefits as other legally married couples, not just a certificate, a commitment ceremony or a reduced membership price at a gym,”

Jim and Alfredo
Mexico

This is a beautiful book full of human stories, laughter and tears. Patrice, who after surviving a life threatening illness, decides the one thing her life lacks is a relationship. She makes a list of all the attributes this new fictional man must have…there are 104 qualities she is looking for in a man…then she met Ernesto and ” tick, tick, tick,,,all except for three things!”

Bob and Sandra
We just have the best time together – We really do

Check out this book- it warms the heart..there are tattoos and wild fashionistas. There are conservative Manhattan dames. There are couples who complement each other in dress. There are couples where one is adventurous and the other dresses conservatively There are couples from Australia, Italy, UK, USA and Mexico.. There are straight couple and gay couples. All have a story to tell and the visuals are simply beautiful.

5 August 2019 | Arts

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