Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Written on the back of this work is: “When I look at my shelves, I see dozens and dozens of folders with negatives ... projects like Sabine, Tokyo...and still unpublished, The Gomez-Brito Family, Bangkok, Home. I take down a folder from Home — hundreds of rolls, maybe thousands from the last five years, most of them unseen, most of them never to be published. I turn the pages. Images of people I have met, places and buildings appear in a constant flow. This is what I saw that day; this is how I felt. I then recognize the skin: Onse and Axel. I will never forget this day, the day I met Onse and Axel, and the love they shared. Axel is 90 years old. 'You have to meet my girlfriend,' he said, 'she is ten years older than me!' He tells me about Onse and how they fell in love on a holiday in Bangkok. He invites me to visit them at Onse's house. Onse is 100 years old and lives alone. She has never been married. She used to be a photographer and travelled all over the world. She still dreams about it. They live apart, but every weekend Axel comes to visit. On this Saturday in spring 2010, they invite me in. I photograph them hugging and caressing each other. Onse has many wounds on her body, so Axel is tender when he touches her. I hear Onse express her comfort, whispering groans of joy. Axel tells me that until two years ago, they still made love, but now Onse has a special bed from the hospital with no room for Axel. 'But we still kiss, 'Axel says. And so they start kissing. The first image feels right. Before I start thinking. Before I start framing. Before I ask them to do it again. The first kiss is the best.” — Jacob Aue Sobol