Valentine’s Day 2018: Touching photographs depict love stories from around the world

Love is universal

Sabrina Barr
Wednesday 14 February 2018 17:35 GMT
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No matter your age, nationality, ethnicity, gender or sexual preference, we all love to love and to be loved in return.

That’s exactly what this collection of photographs portrays, by spreading a message about the universality of love this Valentine’s Day.

Photographs from Reuters have captured the essence of more than 20 couples from around the world, who have each told the unique and beautiful stories of how they fell in love.

Alejandra, a 44-year-old education policy consultant met her husband Razhy, a 48-year-old journalist and human rights activist, after Razhy had experienced the trauma of being kidnapped.

The couple met in Mexico City in 1998 and now have a nine-year-old son.

Amornrat Ruamsin, a 27-year-old transgender woman, recently married 16-year-old Pitchaya Kachainrum in a ceremony that was filmed for a local TV show in Bangkok.

The pair, who have a five-month-old daughter, plan to wed again when Kachainrum turns 17 so that their marriage can be legally binding in Thailand.

Asha Ahuja, a 71-year-old housewife, met her husband Chandrabhan Ahuja, a 73-year-old businessman, in 1971 on their engagement day, only six days before their wedding.

Today, the married couple live in Mumbai.

“We are from a generation where we had to make a lot of compromises to make the marriage work, unlike today,” Asha said.

“I have no regrets as he loves me and I have a great family.”

Mezbah Ul Aziz, 34, and his wife of eight years Mausumi Iqbal, 33, both work as dentists in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Although no sparks flew when they first met at dental school, they fell in love when they happened to come across one another some time after.

Tony Wakaiga, an 18-year-old art and design student met his girlfriend Suzzy Konje, an 18-year-old hospitality management student during a modelling photo session on Banda Street in Nairobi, Kenya.

Wakaiga is planning on pulling out all the stops to show how much he cares about Konje.

“We have been very good friends for a long time and our passion for each other has matured like wine,” he said.

“This Valentine’s Day, I have a special surprise for Suzzy that will knock her heart out.”

All of these stories just go to show that every single love story, no matter how conventional or unusual it may be, deserves to be cherished.

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