ALEXINE CHANEL
EMOSEDI
MENTATION
This long-term
interview-based project
(​2006-2025) began with a deeply personal and puzzling experience.
I once became intensely infatuated with a man who was just as drawn to me. When we finally kissed and spent a beautiful, perfect night together, I assumed we were in love. But despite his obvious feelings, he quickly sabotaged everything, and our connection faded away.
I couldn’t understand it—how could someone waste something so beautiful? Was I wrong to believe that “the act of love” is a straightforward expression of “the feeling of love”?
This experience left me questioning the nature of love itself: Is romantic love distinct from sexual attraction, even when one feels an authentic connection through sex? Can one truly exist in a meaningful way without the other?
Determined to explore these questions, I began asking people to recount their entire love lives, from childhood to the present. Each participant interprets this freely—every infatuation, every significant relationship, and every emotionally impactful sexual encounter can be included.
The interviews take place in my studio. These are completely ephemeral conversations—no audio is recorded, and I take no written notes. Everything exists only in the moment between us.
As participants recall those who have shaped their emotional journey,
I sit across from them and observe their expressions. For each person they mention, I take a single photograph—the moment their face most vividly reflects the emotions tied to that love.
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​Over time, I have created around forty such Emoportraits.
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I don’t expect to find a single answer to my original question, and see this as a lifelong research. Instead, through the experiences of others, I collect fragments of understanding —layered and shifting, like the portraits themselves.
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