Theory of love- FALLING-

LOVE DEFINITION; "a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person. : attraction that includes sexual desire : the strong affection felt by people who have a romantic relationship. : a person you love in a romantic way"(1)

Exploring a deeper aspect of this project I have started to research into psychology and the effects of love. I have found a psychologist who has researched into the different types of love. I looked closely at my project and decided to explore the route of falling in love with some one. I would love to be able to capture love within some shots and see if they are universal for all the audience. This is a challenge I have set myself:  

This being said I want to also explore the science behind love and possibly look at some of the ways we express love. Whilst researching I came across this website:  http://psychology.about.com/od/loveandattraction/a/theoriesoflove.htm   
which looks at the psychologist who explore what love is and have created a theory related to love. I started to read about it and really enjoyed reading it. I like the way they have used colours to explain love and believe it would be a great way to explore this further through images.


The image above is Elaine Hatfield who is American social psychologist. She has been credited, alongside Ellen S. Berscheid, as one of the pioneers of relationship science. She is employed as a professor in the psychology department of the University of Hawaii (2)She suggested 

"there are two basic types of love: compassionate love and passionate love. Compassionate love is characterized by mutual respect, attachment, affection, and trust. Compassionate love usually develops out of feelings of mutual understanding and shared respect for one another.

Passionate love is characterized by intense emotions, sexual attraction, anxiety, and affection. When these intense emotions are reciprocated, people feel elated and fulfilled. Unreciprocated love leads to feelings of despondence and despair. Hatfield suggests that passionate love is transitory, usually lasting between 6 and 30 months"

Below is another theory by a man named

The Color Wheel Model of Love

"In his 1973 book The Colors of Love, John Lee compared styles of love to the color wheel. Just as there are three primary colors, Lee suggested that there are three primary styles of love. These three styles of love are: (1) Eros, (2) Ludos and (3) Storge.

Continuing the color wheel analogy, Lee proposed that just as the primary colors can be combined to create complementary colors, these three primary styles of love could be combined to create nine different secondary love styles. For example, a combination of Eros and Ludos results in Mania, or obsessive love"

Lee’s 6 Styles of Loving

Three primary styles:

1. Eros – Loving an ideal person

2. Ludos – Love as a game

3. Storge – Love as friendship

Three secondary styles:

1. Mania (Eros + Ludos) – Obsessive love

2. Pragma (Ludos + Storge) – Realistic and practical love

3. Agape (Eros + Storge) – Selfless love

Although this is not research exploring a photographer or a photography project, I feel it has helped open up the possibilities when exploring my project of FALLING but falling in love. From this not only have I explored love and the psychology behind it, but I feel I have enough to continue my studies into love and possibly look at different types of love such as passionate love, familial love or friendly love.


REFERENCES:

(1)- http://www.dictionary.com/browse/love?o=O
(2)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Hatfield
(3)-