Madrid-born Marta Soul‘s photo series Idilios (the Spanish word doesn’t have an exact translation, but captures the sense of romance) depicts the artist dressed in various costumes, taking on several alter-egos, sharing a first kiss with different men in intimate, lush settings. From Soul’s artist statement:
The series is constructed in an ideal context in order to accentuate the experience of romantic love. . . . Immediate satisfaction is found in the kiss. It is the beginning and end of the entire narrative scene and it is the iconographic element of the image too. . . . The reflection in this work originates in trying to understand how we integrate our emotions into a consumer lifestyle in which everything has to be attractive yet has an expiry date because there is a constant search to change for something better. Romance is another way to achieve the goal held out to us as the maximum aspiration: happiness. These images stem from the need to visually express the materialisation of this expectation.
Despite the deeper, more serious message, Soul’s images can rival any romantic drama. Get swept away by Soul’s epic romantic encounters, below.