EDITORS’ PICK
Shared Journeys
RELATIONSHIPS
RELATIONSHIPS EDITORS’ PICK
Following Magdalena Wosinska’s selection of winning images for our recent Relationships competition, this compilation of 20 images represents some of the other talented photographers whose work struck us and left a mark. Each a stunning image worthy of exposure and attention…
When selecting for editor’s picks we’re always searching for those striking photographs that make for an unforgettable single image, whether from a broader series or not. We enjoy the accompanying text some photographers submit with their images, and while not always necessary it can be relevant when understanding the work in full context.
These are intended to be a conversation starter… so feel free to join the discussion on our social networks.
BANNER IMAGE: MARIANNA YAKOBSON
Featuring an unusual composition, so entangled and artful, this photograph is imbued with love and tenderness. Lines are fluid, poses are candid, and everything is peaceful and serene. It’s a sweet, intimate moment that reminds us of the people we love and trust the most, the ones we rely on unconditionally. Choosing the black and white aesthetic over color is a smart choice because it reduces the visual stimuli in favor of emotional ones. – LIFE FRAMER
DANIEL HOUSLEY
It’s impressive how this double portrait allows each subject to reveal their personality and mood whilst capturing the full spectrum of their relationship at the same time. Artful, beautifully colored, and featuring exceptional lighting, the photograph embeds human connection, tradition, family relationships, and many other cultural and personal aspects in a very harmonious composition. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Jjiejie (Older Sister) – Sophie and Dorothy embrace.
ELYSIA PERKINS
This anti-portrait focuses on the strength of the relationship rather than its type, a sensitive way to dispel judgments and preconceptions. Two souls joined forever, relying on and supporting each other, reduced to their basic essence. It’s a powerful concept, well realized and presented in the purest metaphorical way. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Anna and Jairus.
MAX STURGEON
Showing that our relationships are no strangers to passion is a challenging subject, artfully captured by this photograph in a very abstract yet sensorial fashion. By relying on color psychology, the photographer invites the viewer to feel rather than to observe, moving the response to a deeper, more intense level. Color, shape, and texture blend in beautifully, creating an appealing fine-art composition. – LIFE FRAMER
GUARIONEX RODRIGUEZ, JR.
We rely on those around us for support, comfort, and belonging. But they aren’t just around us. Our families and communities are an intrinsic part of who we are. This photograph takes us beyond the exterior shell to the deepest levels of our interactions, to the moments when the soft hand on the shoulder becomes a binder of souls. Everything in this frame – colors, textures, highlights, and shadows – points out that we are not individuals but one entity. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – From the series Segunda Generación (Second Generation). A self reflection on identity. I’ve watched what challenges my parents went through just to assimilate into American culture. Spending very few summers as a youth with my family in the DR, I learned the importance of why my parents kept our culture at home. With this project, I’ve spent the past decade with my 4×5 visiting and seeing what I can document — never misrepresenting the true energy of Santo Domingo. Without losing sight, I see the Dominican Republic through time spent apart.
ADRIENN NAGY
What an interesting perspective and creative mix of elements! The unusual camera angle provides a sense of depth and creates a narrative line, taking the viewer from the romantic stage of the relationship – the past in the background – to parenthood – the future in the foreground. The image is fluid, dynamic, and well-balanced; the contrast enhances the story; and the subjects are gracefully allowed to express their feelings naturally. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Love Globe.
ANNA MEYER-KAHLEN
One of the many relationships we have in our lives is the relationship to ourselves. Photographing such an abstract concept is an ambitious endeavor that requires lots of compositional and storytelling skills. Each visual element becomes a symbol: the dolls, the myriads of personas we take on; the covered eyes, gazing inwards; the colors, the possibilities; and so on. Crowding the space is a good choice because it reminds us that the biggest chaos we face is on the inside. Well done! – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Inner World. A child lying inside her own universe. Surrounded by dolls, stories, roles, and imagination — not observing from the outside, but becoming part of it.
This image speaks about relationship as something inward: the bond to play, to fantasy, to the worlds we build when we make sense of ourselves. Messy, tender, overwhelming, alive. Sometimes relationship isn’t about another person. Sometimes it’s about how deeply we belong to our own inner world.
FREDERIC MISSERI
The photographer constructed the composition like a theater stage, meticulously designing lighting, reflections, shapes, and contrast. Each element plays a role in supporting the two protagonists in developing their romance. The result is intriguing and revealing at the same time, keeping the viewer entertained and curious to find out more, like the beginning of a good play. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Echo Chamber. Two silhouettes kiss on a ferry dock, framed by the monumental arch of a dark passage opening onto light. The wet ground reflects their bodies, doubling their presence as if the moment refuses to disappear. The contrast between interior shadow and exterior brightness turns the kiss into a fragile suspension between two worlds.
A dock is, by nature, a place of transition — one arrives, one departs. It embodies the in-between, the waiting, the possibility of separation. In this context, the gesture becomes charged with tension: is it a farewell or a return? A goodbye or a promise? The viewer does not know, and it is precisely this ambiguity that gives the image its emotional weight.
The almost symmetrical composition reinforces the sense of a suspended parenthesis in time. The arch functions as an architectural frame, isolating the couple from the outside world. The reflection in the water suggests the emotional echo of the moment — love persisting even when bodies may soon part.
This photograph explores relationships at their most vulnerable: those suspended instants where intimacy must coexist with the uncertainty of movement. On this dock, human connection becomes an anchor against the constant flow of departures and crossings.
THOMAS DRYDEN-KELSEY
As much as we know that relationships can be very beautiful and rewarding, we also know they are hard work. This photograph of exceptional honesty offers us a glimpse into parenthood, with its good and bad days. The quality of the light, the closeness of the two characters, and the mundanity of the décor paint a candid picture, unpretentious and warm, that wins us over in a heartbeat. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Whilst my wife is working I am left to look after my eldest adopted son who is ill. Daily escapades of an adoptive dad – using the camera as a form of play.
From the series Raising Doron. After years of hoping for a family, my wife and I chose adoption as the path that would finally make us parents. The training, approval, and matching process was long, challenging, and emotionally demanding, forcing us to reflect on the kind of parents we wanted to be.
Our sons came to us at a very young age, bringing with them uncertainty and a need for steady care and reassurance. Adoption doesn’t erase the challenges of their early experiences, but it does give us the opportunity to help them feel safe, supported, and understood as they grow.
Parenting them has been joyful, but it has also been hard work. We are learning every day, striving to be the best role models we can be. As a father, I have sometimes struggled with how to provide a strong and positive male presence, especially on the difficult days.
Yet these challenges are not unique to adoption. Every parent faces moments of doubt, exhaustion, and the weight of responsibility. What sustains us is love: the small victories, the moments of connection, and the knowledge that, despite the struggles, we are building the family we longed for so many years.
KAROLIINA KASE
This lovely double portrait reveals the strong relationship between the two protagonists, but also their shared relationship with the environment, and it’s all thanks to composition and lighting choices. The entire story is told with light and space. The warm sunset light creates the atmosphere and infuses the frame with feelings, while the position and pose of the subjects build up the plot. Well done! – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Tony and Sarah. Tony and Sarah are photographed at sunset in the Australian outback, taking a break after a day helping to build a new sheep feedlot. Following a severe drought that decimated local kangaroo populations, they focused on fencing and livestock work when opportunities in kangaroo shooting became scarce.
JUSTIN ROQUE
The photograph individualizes one relationship above all others, the one that makes us forget about time and everything that surrounds us. The entire frame is built around it. Lighting, depth of field, main leading line, and composition gravitate around the subject, closing the bond and building up the plot. Inevitably, one thinks about the one person who unconditionally accepts them just the way they are. – LIFE FRAMER
INÉS AREVALO
Relationships start with sharing: an identity, a feeling, a goal, a set of values, etc. The photograph excels at conveying the shared trust and care of the two characters in the face of adversities or the long journey ahead. Their close embrace in the foreground and the road vanishing in the background put things in perspective, add a sense of depth, and create a temporal line. The photograph doesn’t capture a static moment but an entire journey. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Bond: affection, passion, union and even obsession.
OLGA NIKA
Inviting the viewer to dream, this artful fine art photograph relies on silhouettes and color psychology to weave the delicate scenery of romantic love. Lyric and metaphorical, the image creates the atmosphere and lets the viewer paint their own picture, imagine who the characters are, and how their relationship develops. It’s a rich combination of visual appeal and background story that keeps the viewer engaged. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Dream fragments.
IRIS DAHAN
What do you see when you look in a mirror? The answer should be a relationship because it is the relationship we have with ourselves that creates the image in the mirror. This fine art portrait, with its symmetries and alternations of clarity and blur, is a beautiful representation of this inner interaction. Deciding not to frame the eyes is a very bold and creative approach and makes the composition much more interesting and artful. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Soul.
LAN YAO
The image reminds us that our history and culture are made of relationships and that you can spot lots of them in the unrealistic décor of a carnival. The composition is crowded, layered, and intense, but also easy to enjoy, warm, and joyful. One can feel the buzz of the event, its noisy atmosphere, and all the excitement attendees bring with them. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Carnival gathering. Oaxaca, Mexico, February 2026.
VLADIMIR KARAMAZOV
By filling the frame so tightly, the photographer managed to capture the complicated relationships within big groups and families. There is a lot to take in, and the viewer can’t help but be mesmerized by the variety of interactions, expressions, and attitudes. They will spend a lot of time going through the entire frame, identifying patterns, and recognizing bits of themselves along the way. The power of photography is in making the viewer feel part of the matter. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – The big family.
MUHAMMAD AMDAD HOSSAIN
Ambitiously, the photographer turns the lens on mundane relationships, which represent most of our interactions but are not something we are willing to praise. However, little acts of kindness like sharing an insect net with someone you barely know go a long way. This candid shot is a reminder that we are defined by the way we treat strangers, not by the way we treat our loved ones. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Shared Rest. Three men sleep closely together under a mosquito net on a street in Bangladesh. The improvised shelter reflects companionship and mutual reliance among people living without stable homes.
Fro a series exploring relationships in everyday life across different communities in Bangladesh. Through intimate and candid moments, the photographs show how people care for one another in times of hardship and ordinary life. From family bonds and intergenerational care to friendship and companionship, these images reveal quiet connections that sustain people through challenges such as poverty, displacement, and environmental change.
JAMES SOLOMON
What an artful way to depict the first gift we receive as a newborn, the relationship with our caregivers. The photographer chose an ambitious aesthetic to show the determination and effort that goes into supporting and guiding a child. The hands make the baby feel safe and loved, inducing a calm mood that allows them to explore the world fearlessly. Excellent lighting design. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – In Safe Hands. I had the honor of creating this image of my cousin’s first child and though I did the traditional types of images, seeing the way they both cared deeply for this new life that they were now committed to guiding through life in an uncertain World, I made some adjustments to create this image that tell the story that he is indeed, In Safe Hands.
LEO KWOK
In the photographer’s eyes, an ordinary couple’s activity becomes a dance, a rhythmical movement through time, a story that repeats itself again and again. At some point in history, it was Romeo, Juliette, and a balcony. Now, it’s this couple and their masks. The story is recurrent, just the actors differ. Excellent use of reflections, space, and contrast to create such a good dynamic and pace. – LIFE FRAMER
LAUREN CAMERON
A relationship can be many things: a journey, a destination, an engine, a support team, a companion, but it can also be home is the message of this photograph. The composition is meaningful: a group of people in a seemingly endless, vast décor, staying together for a sense of belonging and grounding. Each element has a role, from the dusty colors and the atemporal look to no one looking at the camera, no one acknowledging the existence of another world than the one between them. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – When I was ten years old, my family left Scotland and moved to France. Now, at twenty-nine, France is the place where I have lived the longest, where I grew up, where my daily life unfolds. Yet Scotland continues to live quietly within me, shaping my sense of self in ways I cannot fully separate from who I am. I exist between these two places, never entirely rooted in one or the other.
My experience has been defined by a persistent sense of in-betweeness, where belonging cannot be fully anchored to one country or another. This work began with a question I have carried for years: what is home when it cannot be located on a map? This body of work centres on my mother as the embodiment of home. As the figure who raised us in a new and unfamiliar environment, she created stability where there was none. She provided a sense of grounding and continuity while navigating her own experience of isolation. She gave us roots before the ground beneath us had time to settle. Through this work, I am not searching for home anymore. I am recognising it.
