"Les Couples Imaginaires" (The imaginary couples) is a photo project by Olivier Ciappa against homophobia. The project features Eva Longoria, along other celebrities, pretending to be in a gay couple, according to OhLaLa Mag.
Longoria posed with Canadian-Italian-Belgian singer Lara Fabian cuddling, falling asleep in her arms, in an intimate atmosphere. French swimmers Florent Manaudoun and Frederick Bousquet are two other public figures that have also taken part in the campaign, posing as a couple in a happy, playful moment. The two appear as if they were about to, or had just taken, a shower together.
But the artist doesn't make an emphasis on the sexual or erotic aspects of the imaginary couples. Instead he gives to them a more tender quality. He creates the loving environment that any ordinary couple might enjoy when they're alone together, weather it be a gay couple or a hetereosexual one. According to pinknews.co.uk, Ciappa described in an interview the pitch he made to the swimmers when he approached them for the shoot. "You're with the person you love. Not a man, not a woman. Then, at the session, I disappear, for they are one with each other," he said. The photos features the caption, "A peaceful look on homosexuality."
The French Parliament legalized gay marriage in April. In response, part of the French society that disagrees with the measure have reacted manifesting their discontent in huge protests that have, in some cases, turned violent. This gives us a hint on what the artist may have meant by chosing that caption: A peaceful look on homosexuality, as opposed to, the violent one shown by its opposers.
The photos were exposed at the City Hall in the 10th Arrondissement of Paris first, and then went on to be displayed in public places like parks, outside children's schools, town's hall gates and the walls of streets in Paris. On June 21, Ciappa posted a message on his Facebook account saying how excited he was that the photos were now part of the public domain and were being seen by people who hadn't planned on seeing them.
"Some were shocked, I even saw an old man hiding the eyes of his grandson, telling me these pictures will influence him to become gay when he'll be an adult. But most of them were so positive. Like these pictures seem to really question people," he said.
However a day later, on June 22, the situation was completely different. "What a sad day. Most of my pictures outside of Paris were destroyed. Faces were taken away with a knife, cuts were done on the eyes and such," he posted. The artist also claimed he felt that by destroying his art, the vandalizers were trying to destroy his vision of the world.