© Diana C Patin, Tender, 2019

Love is often an experience of great joy. However, it also has the potential to cause great pain. It’s no surprise, then, that words like tenderness can be used to describe both the feeling of love and the raw, delicate nature of wounds not yet healed. In Tender, Diana Patin finds comfort in this shared vulnerability between herself and her partner. Often employing a muted color palette and soft focus, her quiet photographs offer an intimate self-exploration of romantic love.

© Diana C Patin, Elephant Ear, 2019

Tender

My work “Tender” is part of an ongoing set of images in which I examine my romantic relationship and the ways vulnerability manifests within it, and prompted by it. I am particularly interested in displaying complicated human emotions through intimate imagery. To accomplish this goal I photograph myself in carefully composed situations, as well as moments that contribute more indirectly to the themes of the work. “Tender” is about the feeling of trusting someone else to love unconditionally, and learning to love unconditionally myself. — Diana Patin

© Diana C Patin, Overripe, 2020

© Diana C Patin, Scratches, 2020

© Diana C Patin, 4PM, 2020

© Diana C Patin, Our Feet, 2019

© Diana C Patin, Up Against, 2019

© Diana C Patin, Us, 2019

© Diana C Patin, Shower Hair, 2019

© Diana C Patin, Washing, 2020

© Diana C Patin, Bed, 2019

© Diana C Patin, Hug Goodbye, 2019

Diana C Patin is a third-year MFA candidate at Louisiana State University. She is studying photography, and is currently working on her thesis. She currently lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but has also called Texas, California, and Oregon home. Apart from a deep love for image-making, Patin is passionate about literature, cooking, and the meditative aspects of walking. She and her dog “Sprout” enjoy spending time outside, with her plants, a book, and a refreshing glass of iced tea.

Follow her on Instagram: @hidinahh