By Evan Stefanik
ULZZANG / @ulzzangfolder on Twitter
Love looks like a blurry Instagram picture.
People post about their romance on social media, where they can amass extra hearts just by appearing next to a significant other.
But during the pandemic, celebrities inspired new visual styles for publicly expressing their affection. Maybe all the time spent at home made their heads feel a little lighter. Or, ads for luxury products enlightened them, as most paralleled lust with some distortionary element like a mystical perfume mist.
No matter its genesis, the rest of the culture quickly caught on.
KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN / @kourtneykardash on Instagram
The idea is to blur the photo, giving it a dynamic effect as if two are falling in love in front of the liker’s eyes. Fuzzing out the focus promises a more intimate experience.
Though the majority of the aesthetic belongs to young adults on TikTok, it even has support in professional wedding photoshoots now.
Not all relationships exist as marriage, though.
Musicians like Harry Styles embrace the blur by celebrating their fans, capturing the moment of fun on stage in a trick of light.
ANTHONY PHAM / @harrystyles and @anthonypham on Instagram
For now, trendsetters big and small can see the lovelier mess behind the camera. Perhaps they follow Channing Tatum’s leading principle: “Life is a blur.”
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