We met thanks to the Internet
A little over a year ago, photographer Jena Kambo started working on a photo project about couples who met online. She called it "We met on the Internet." The project started gradually: at first, Jenna photographed only her friends who met online. But then others found out about him-people she didn't know. And now the project has gained popularity and is growing every day.
Mariela and Thiago. Mariela is a self-taught photographer who moved to New York in 2011 from the Dominican Republic. Thiago has been working as a carpenter since childhood. After meeting for only a couple of weeks, they decided to live together. And four months later they got engaged. Now they have the same tattoos. "We tattooed the word 'love' on our hands." (Jena Cumbo)
Nikki and Mallila. One day Nikki saw a photo of Mallila on Instagram, and she liked the portrait so much that she put it on the desktop of her tablet. In a blog dedicated to hairstyles, Nikki saw a certain Mallila again and tried to contact her, not even suspecting that the girl on the desktop and the girl from the blog are the same person. In the end, they met in real life, and it started... Nikki did not suspect that she was dating a woman whose photo was on her desktop until Mallila showed her several photos from the same series on her phone.
Donna and Jess. Donna no longer remembers in which chat she met Jess back in 1997, but she remembered his nickname. "There was 47 standing there, and I thought maybe he was my age… That's why I wrote "Hello"." At first, they talked for five months by phone and email, and then met in person at a shopping mall in Syracuse, New York.
Lily and David. Lily's mother created a profile for her on a dating site. Lily says there were a lot of lies in the profile, but she still went on a couple of dates that her mother had set up for her. Lily was about to close the account when her parent "introduced" her to David. "I didn't want my mother to be right," Lily admits. But Lily and David have been married for two years.
Ryan and Nelson. "Why does some stranger write to me on Facebook?", - recalls Ryan. He texted Nelson, and the conversation on the site almost instantly turned into a date in reality. They liked each other from the first minute. Nelson has a daughter from a previous relationship. Ryan says that her daughter played one of the most important roles in their acquaintance.
Taylor and Jonathan. Model and photographer Taylor and stylist-hairdresser Jonathan met on Grindr - a special application created for gays and bi. Taylor's profile immediately interested Jonathan. "He stood out because he wasn't just an ordinary "sucker" from Chelsea. It was as if I felt that we would suit each other — as friends or as lovers," says Jonathan.
Jay and Ashley. "I thought she was really cute," Jay says. —And I was intrigued." He especially liked her eyes. Ashley says she's crazy about Jay's eyes too. "I didn't want to rush," she says. —He was polite and everything, and I liked his tattoos, so I was hoping that this relationship would turn into something more."
Javanna and David. In 2011, Javanna began writing to David, who was in prison at the time. She wasn't looking for a romantic relationship, she just wanted to be friends. She recalls that David's profile was different from the "scary" and often false profiles of other prisoners. David was sentenced to 10 years in prison for hacking. "I worked as a programmer and got caught in one of the most high-profile cases of the 2000s."
Catherine and David. David and Catherine met on MySpace in 2006. Catherine had just moved to Boston and accidentally saw David's profile, who claimed that he had managed to lose weight. Catherine had also lost a lot of weight, so they had something to talk about. They corresponded several times a day, and then David asked her out. "I still remember — she was wearing an orange coat, and she was so pretty," recalls David.
Donna and John. Donna texted John over the weekend and he invited her to a movie. John says he really liked her and tried his best to act natural. "Then I was very nervous and ended up stepping on her foot a couple of times."
Cora and Will. Cora met Will on Craiglist (a free classifieds service), but not in the dating section. "I just moved to New York, and I didn't even have furniture. Besides, I didn't know anyone in the city at all. And Will posted an ad about free movie tickets that he won online." Cora wrote Will a letter about the tickets, and he replied. A week later they decided to meet in a cafe. Cora waited for him for 50 minutes and was ready to leave, but Will still came. "I had to run almost all the way because my taxi got stuck in traffic. I got out of it too early and ended up taking the wrong turn," says Will. Now they have two children.
Corianna and David. David went to Craiglist looking for someone to go to a baseball game with. Corianna looked at Craiglist "after a few glasses of wine." She wrote to him, he replied, after that the conversation stalled. But then David told Corianna about himself, and it helped her relax. They decided to meet. "And in the first second of the meeting, a spark passed between us," David recalls.
Keywords: Meeting | Acquaintance | Internet | People | Relationships