I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz, or arrow of carnations that propagate fire: I love you as one loves certain obscure things, secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself, and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose from the earth lives dimly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you directly without problems or pride: I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love, except in this form in which I am not nor are you, so close that your hand upon my chest is mine, so close that your eyes close with my dreams.
-One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII
By Pablo Neruda. Translated by Mark Eisner.
It’s rare that I shoot lingerie these days, but when @tianahunterphoto asked if I wanted to shoot in her beautiful San Francisco apartment, the theme being an Ellen von Unwerth-inspired Victorian romance, of course I said yes. With a tarot deck and a Pablo Neruda book as props, ethereal music reminiscent of my yoga playlists floating through the house, it was, as usual, a dream to work with Tiana.
Now, on a farm in a remote jungly corner of Costa Rica, the same person who tottered in Yves Saint Laurent stilettos and a strappy harness now lives in muddy boots and work pants. Today I made a biodynamic tree paste, which is basically a slurry of clay, manure, and water, used to give nutrients and protection to an ailing Tahitian lime tree that I just performed some major surgeries on. Here we practice acro yoga most mornings, and fall asleep to the heavy rains. It’s a stark contrast, and I love that I have a life in which I can indulge all parts of myself. The fancy and the filthy. The bougie and the balance. The gold and the goo.
If you enjoy my work and have the means, please feel welcome to leave a tip at any of the links below. Suggested donation: (sliding scale) $5-$500, or whatever your generous heart desires.
With the online social climate becoming increasingly polarized, I've felt like there wasn't a place where I could really share my work in the way that I wanted to. I am not into the idea of placing my work behind a paywall, advertising my pay site, being beholden to a posting schedule, or any of that stuff. I just want to do what I love, share it freely as I feel inspired to do so, and continue to do this work on my own terms. So I'm trying something new. Thanks for viewing, thanks for reading, thank you to all who have tipped or will tip in the future.
With gratitude and love,
Eva Luna
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