Kristy and Josh | Maui, December '18

Love transcends culture, language, time, distance, and has so many forms. Over the last couple of years, I have had the privilege of documenting love stories around the world; England, New Zealand, Chile, Maui. Something I realized recently is that each of the couples I have gotten to work with outside of Canada have something in common with each other. Both partners are originally from different countries, some different continents. Maybe it is the small town gal in me to be left in awe by these stories I’ve heard. But I think it is amazing that in such a big, big (BIG) world, people find each other. In the midst of circumstances that hardly made sense, their love made sense and was worth fighting for.

Kristy and Josh have one of those stories. She is from the Czech Republic and he from California. They met when she was in the U.S. for a year abroad for school. Their journey has not been one without hardship and loss, yet just as much closeness, redemption, grace, steadfastness, and beauty. They are now married and settling into a life in Maui. I got to visit them in December and capture the first week in their new home. This is another set of photographs from that week, and I thought to share some different love words and their meanings as well as phrases in different languages. Sometimes, the English language can seem so limiting to express the workings of the heart, so here you go!

(Thank you to everyone who participated in sharing these with me!)

Zhi zi zhi shou, yu zi xie lao

Mandarin Chinese

// To hold hands and grow old together