There's something obviously unnerving about Flesh Love. Deathly still, smooched together and vacuum-sealed like meat at the supermarket; this photo series is not for the light of stomach. Yet look past that whole cling-wrap thing and a sentiment that's surprisingly warm and fuzzy comes to the surface: some people have enough trust and love in their relationships that they feel comfortable hopping into a space bag with their significant other.
Its mastermind, Photographer Hal, says the series is all about love, couples and the challenges they can face. Challenges like being sealed in a plastic bag with your lover and all the various bodily odours they could emit. That and, you know, asphyxiating. It's an idea that's earned the Japanese-based (seriously, where else?) photographer an incredible following and numerous requests from dare-devil couples.
His other series also focus on relationships, such as Pinky & Killer which also pressed claustrophobic tendencies by placing them in a small room or space. Couple Jam took this one step further by popping them in a bathtub. Hal says it's all in aid of reminding us to love the person in front of them without boundaries. "I have started to create my ring of love in the city of Tokyo," he says, "believing that some day a world peace without segregation and discrimination will come true.”