Photographer and poet Nick Langat delicately explores love, death, and their enduring nature in “InNoSense – a journey of love,” an art book of 241 photos taken in 48 countries, including Austria, Kenya, Brazil, Indonesia, and yes, even the Philippines.

 

The journey unfolds in bokeh, saturated colors, and soft light, through expertly captured images of nature, statues and sculptures, architecture, silhouettes, shadows, and most of all, men—two in particular.

 

On the first page, a single line dedicates the tome to Christian and Thaworn, the photographer’s main subjects.

 

Nothing much is said of the two except that they died at age 35 and 30 respectively, and that the photos in the book were taken by Langat as he joined them on a worldwide voyage.

 

Who they are, how they died, and what exactly their relationship was with the photographer remain a mystery.

 

It is this mystery that drives one to read on, to examine each photograph, read each line, and look for traces of Christian and Thaworn within the pages.

 

The quest for a concrete idea of their identities proves futile, and yet one feels in custody of a precious secret as the photographs betray an intimacy between subjects and photographer.

 

Portraits of Christian and Thaworn are some of the most beautiful photographs in the bunch. Almost all of them were taken in close proximity and captured the two in various emotional states.

 

Some photographs catch them joyful, reveling in the novelty of a new place. Others reveal their beautiful nakedness, while some have captured them in pensive moments against a breathtaking sunrise or sunset.

 

Yet whatever the mood of the photo, there is a lingering sadness in all of them, perhaps because the stark but powerful dedication has told us that the subjects captured in the prime of life are no longer alive, or because the poems that punctuate the pages cry out for lost love.

 

The photos seem to be arranged deliberately: one photo has captured Christian at the height of laughter as he throws a fistful of sand in the air; the next photo shows a skull sitting on a step, final as death.

 

Such juxtaposition of vitality and stagnation is a continuing pattern throughout the book, as if to say that life and death and love are not separate entities, but are so incredibly intertwined.

 

One particularly heart-rending moment in the book was an untitled prose piece dated September 29, where Langat addresses Thaworn and recalls the moment of his death.

“Death is a tenderness, love is an everlasting birth,” reads the last line, effectively encapsulating everything that is conveyed throughout the book.

 

More than the undeniable photographic skill of the man behind the lens, it’s the heartfelt tone and the deft and tender unfolding of the journey that makes this book so moving.

 

In the end, one isn’t marveling at the technical merits of the photographs or the beauty of the places they’ve been—though that inevitably happens.

 

Rather, one is rendered awestruck by the short-lived but incredibly beautiful shared life of the two subjects and the photographer, and the great love between them, a love palpable through the pages and enduring through death. –KG, GMA News

 

“InNoSense – a journey of love” by Nick Langat, published by Moragod Publishing, is available in bookstores all over the Philippines (National Book Store, Fully Booked, Goodwill and Bridges Bookstore, Solidaridad Bookshop, among others).