EVIDENCE OF LOVE ON PLANET EARTH
DOUG MENUEZ PHOTOGRAPHS
EVIDENCE OF LOVE ON PLANET EARTH PHOTOGRAPHS BY DOUG MENUEZ
Curated by Karen Mullarkey
We all want to be loved––it’s built into our DNA. Along with the need for food and shelter, love, or the lack thereof, is clearly the main driving wheel of civilization and the arts. No matter how cool or important you are, how hip your clothing, friends or hang-outs, deep down you want to find and connect with that one person who will make life worth living. You just do.
Some say that every film is a variation on one of only six or seven themes from life. Most of these themes center on love––the loss of love, the triumph of love, the betrayal and deceit of false lovers, and so on. We need love so badly that we often trivialize that need until it becomes a trite subject, masking the pain of such a profound and crucial component of our human psyches.
These images were pulled from my work going back 30 years and show moments that reflect a fundamental aspect of being alive: the act of loving another human being. Love and lust are intertwined, and there are consequences to both, of course. Seeing the photographs selected by Karen Mullarkey around this theme from my archive was a wonderful revelation in that I found I’ve been particularly alert to love in its various manifestations over the years. I guess that makes me a voyeur.
Doug Menuez
EVIDENCE OF LOVE ON PLANET EARTH plates
Paolo & Tereza
Mill Valley, California. 1995. 1
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Janice Arnold, with grandchildren Dayton, Ohio. 2009
Janice’s daughter is in jail on drug charges so she is raising her grandchildren.
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Hampstead Heath London, 2001
The Gay Wing, County Jail San Bruno, California. 1978
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3 Lovers San Francisco, California. 1995
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Bob Weir & Family Sausalito, California. 1999
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Michael Matisse & Gina Cerre San Diego, California. 1994
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Mother & Daughter #1 Guadalajara, Mexico. 2000
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Father & Son Brooklyn, New York. 2009
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South Beach Miami, Florida, 2010
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Mother & Daughter #2 Guadalajara, Mexico. 2000
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Former President George G.W. Bush & Mrs. Barbara Bush Kennebunkport, Maine. 2009
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Jones Beach New York, 2008
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Mother Teresa Anacostia, Maryland. 1981 Her first visit to the US.
15 Friends Rakai Home, Uganda. 2006 Ugandan AIDS orphanage.
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Brian & Acire Gulu, Uganda. 2006
Brothers reunited seven years after their family was massacred by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Reunion Gulu, Uganda. 2006
Former child soldier and kidnap victim, who escaped the Lord’s Resistance Army, reunites with his Aunties after 7 years apart.
Valley California. 1999
Samir & Rebbeca Honolulu, Hawaii. 2008
Costa Family Miami, Florida. 2010
Francesca & Massimo Venice, Italy. 1998
Son Temple Hanoi, Vietnam. 2008
Kiss, Adobe Employee Party Mountain View, California. 1988
14th Street Station New York. 2009
Sex, Adobe Systems Mountain View, California. 1989
Party Muir Beach, California. 1997
California.
New York, 2006
San Jose de Réfugio Amatitan, Mexico.
Couple in a Mirror Absinthe, New York. 2008
Party #1 Marin County, California.
La Concha Donostia, Euskadi (Spain), 1989
Second Date Sausalito, California. 1998
Third Date Miami, Florida. 2010
House Party LIttle Haiti, Miami, Florida. 2010
43 San Francisco, California. 1995 36 Labor of Love San Francisco, California, 2003
Dave Mendez & Daughter Elle Charleston, South Carolina, 2009
COVER: Gabriela & Milton Miami, Florida, 2010
El Bar Maestranza Guadalajara, Mexico. 1999 38
Tango Rehearsal Miami, Florida, 2010
Bilbao Euskadi (Spain), 1990 39 Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica, California, 1994
Acrobats, DesÃr New York, NY. 2008
