Love Is In The Air (And On The Street)
Juliet Romano-Olsen | Intern, Guide Collective
We find heart shapes everywhere—in rocks, clouds, weird-shaped plants or foods. And love is the theme of our songs, movies, poems, books, and art because it’s the most important force in our lives. It’s our most important emotion. It drives our actions (caring for a child, getting married, celebrating the success of friends), our goals (Do what you love!), and is the basis of our emotional connections with others, human and non-human. Giving, receiving, and feeling love makes us happy!
You might wonder: why do we associate the stylized heart shape (vs. the anatomical depiction) with love? There’s actually no definitive consensus. There are a number of theories that try to explain what the shape really is and how it evolved, such as the shape of ivy leaves, which were associated with fidelity; a silphium seed pod , which, in Ancient Libya and Ancient Rome days, was used to treat wide number of ailments and was even used as an herbal contraceptive; or perhaps Medieval artists’ interpretations of what an anatomical heart might look like. Marilyn Yalom, author of The Amorous Heart: An Unconventional History of Love and senior scholar at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University shares a helpful overview in this TedX talk:
Seeing hearts and representations of love in unexpected places, painted on buildings, or the sidewalk reminds me that people all over the world are driven by love, kindness, and compassion. When I see a heart or love sentiment in street art, I like to take a picture. I can look back on these pictures and they make me happy because they remind me of how we are united in this universal human experience. I’d like to share a few of my photos with you.
This is one of the first “love” pictures I think I ever took. If I remember correctly, it was on my first trip to Paris in 2016. During this trip, I fell in love (haha) with this city, and it’s one of my favorite places to be.
Image | Juliet Romano-Olsen
I took this picture while in Lausanne, Switzerland with my family. I like how this one leaves us with an ambiguous question: What else?
Image | Juliet Romano-Olsen
My mom and I saw these groovy murals on our trip to New York City a couple years ago. The street art we saw in New York was fantastic.
Image | Juliet Romano-Olsen
This mural by artist Alessio B is in Padua, Italy. This is one of my favorite images because it invokes not just love but hope and dreams, too.
Image | Juliet Romano-Olsen
This street art, also in Padua, is by an artist called Kenny Random. They have other silhouettes with cats in various poses painted all around the city.
Image | Juliet Romano-Olsen
This rainbow heart is one of several hearts I saw painted on the city sidewalks the last time I was in Paris, in early 2020.
Image and art | Juliet Romano-Olsen
I hope you enjoyed looking at these images and that they remind you of unity, hope, peace, and of course, love.
For most of these paintings, I could not find the name of the artists. If you recognize one of them that I haven’t attributed, please comment below so I can give proper credit.
