During the first year following the sudden passing of Anjali Pinto’s husband, Jacob Johnson, she shared a photo and long-form caption to Instagram every day as a way of healing. She wrote about many facets of the unbelievable reality in mourning her beautiful, seemingly healthy 30-year-old husband. With each photo and glimpse into her grief, she was able to offer her audience an honest account of what sudden loss and everlasting love are. In being vulnerable, her pain and joy enriched many people’s perceptions of grief.
Over the four and half years they had together, Jacob and Anjali took hundreds of portraits of one another, using their cameras as a way to communicate and document their enormous love. The body of work created together was intended to be a decades-long exploration of their relationship, but with his sudden passing, it transformed into a vast archive of their memories. The images are proof of who he was as an individual and a testament to the palpable love between them.
From writer Sara Radin, “For a couple who met online, this is a stark contrast to the stories we hear of today’s digital romance, reminding us of what really matters: to truly love and be loved, and how fleeting and fragile life is. Interestingly, there are more photos of them separately than together, but what we ultimately see is what they saw in each other—abundant love. In a time when grief is still stigmatized and largely hidden from public view, Pinto shares these photos with heartbreakingly honest captions— uminating on the ebb and flow of emotions emerging from this life-altering event while tracing the lines of their shared history.”
During the day, Losing Him can be viewed on monitors inside the ICP Museum and during evening hours, images are literally “projected” onto the windows of the ICP Museum; they can be viewed from the sidewalk outside the Museum and are most visible after sunset.
About the Artist
Anjali Pinto is an Indian-American producing images and writing in tandem to convey stories. She received a photojournalism degree from University of Missouri, and currently works as a freelance photographer in Chicago. Her life drastically shifted on December 31, 2016 when her husband and muse died suddenly. Her work in photography is focused on sharing and encouraging vulnerability.
