A time for love

Cyprus LGBTI’s community marked its first civil union in a private Nicosia ceremony on January 29, 2016, in a ceremony open only to allies and friends of the couple.But while the event was largely a private affair, dignity, commitment and celebration were very much on show to those privileged enough to share the occasion. I was allowed to photograph the couple (who desired anonymity to preserve privacy in their professional spheres) as they chose garments for their special day, partied on the eve of their union and basked in the aftermath of the ceremony at the Nicosia District Office the day after. They quietly stepped into the history books but the change they represented was resounding. The island’s civil union law that was approved on November 26, 2015, the fruit of a protracted, hard-won battle by the island’s LGBTI lobby, marked one more step towards a progressive society.

Stefanos Kouratzis (b. 1975, Athens, Greece) is a award-winning VisualStoryteller and the Artistic Director of Limassol Photography Festival for 2024. Studied at Focus, School of Art Photography, (Athens, Greeece) and took online courses at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York). He participated at the 16th Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2018, part of the Cyprus Pavilion (I Am Where You Are). The way he constantly explores Photography as medium, makes his work quite diverse, multidimensional and multilayered.