The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love. This idiom seems to have been made for Ira (84) and Richard (86). The house wife and the insurance broker live in Utrecht and have known each other for 60 years. Neither of them originally are from the Netherlands, but they are native from Indonesia. When his mother moved to the Netherlands with him, he lived in the same house as Ira Kouthoofd. This time as neighbors marked the beginning of their love story. Today, Richard Kouthoofd couldn’t imagine sharing his life with any other woman, even if at times they have to agree to disagree. „A quarrel once a week – that is just another ingredient to a long relationship. But you shouldn’t quarrel for too long though. One hour is enough!“ jests the insurance broker. His advice for young people is that they should learn to forgive. Everyone makes mistakes, but you needn’t bear a grudge.
„Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.“ (Jeanne Moreau)
Is there such thing as the „true love“ in our fast-paced world? René Schwerdtel, a photographer from Herchen, Germany, has set out on the quest to find the answer to precisely that question. He ended up not only with photographs charged with emotion, but also with touching insights into the lives of happy people. In their stories, they give us their very own recipes for strong, intimate relationships – sometimes raising a smile from us, but more often than not, giving us some food for thought. And all of these stories make one very important point: love means trust – and that means that fun, but also the occasional squabble, are two sides of the same coin. Each photograph comes with its own emotive story that shows how multifaceted love can be.
Immerse yourself in these inspiring love stories!
