“Document sapphic loves to keep track of our lives.
Marianne and Emma (a couple for two and a half years), Sapphic Lovers.
Rennes, May 2023 Lea Michaelis
I’ve felt this deep inside me since I was twelve.
Maybe even before, but for a long time I conformed to the gender I was assigned.
(…) After my divorce, I lived alone for eight years.
But as I got older, I didn’t even know if that was still possible.
Marianne and Emma (a couple for two and a half years), Sapphic Lovers. Rennes, May 2023 © Léa Michaëlis
I was alone, and I hesitated.
I hallucinated, and from there I told myself that I could really do it.
So I started all the steps in 2018.
I went to see a psychiatrist in Caen, an endocrinologist… etc.
(…) Furthermore, I knew deep down that I loved women and that I was a lesbian.
Meeting a woman who also loved women would have been an absolutely unexpected opportunity for me.
Sabine & Viviane, Sapphic Lovers. Istres (France), April 2022. © Lea Michaëlis
And unexpected luck, today, is next to me.
She supports me and helps me by being by my side.
Plus now I can steal his clothes!
Mad and Angélina (a couple for eight years), Sapphic Lovers. Bordeaux, March 2023 © Léa Michaëlis
Being with her allowed me to be perfectly me.
I have changed, I am flourishing.
Why did this happen so late in my life?
Marine & Julie,Sapphic Lovers. Montrouge (France), November2022. © Lea Michaëlis
I do not know.
Emma
When Emma told her children she was trans, we were so emotional.
They were the last people she had to tell, and she dreaded this moment.
Sarah & Stephanny, Sapphic Lovers. Grenoble (France).January2023. © Léa Michaëlis
Ultimately, their reaction was very positive.
His son said to him, Well, as long as youre happy!
We all hugged each other, it was so strong.
Hanna and Maeva (a couple for three years), Sapphic Lovers. Basel (Switzerland), May 2023. © Léa Michaëlis
Marianne
Sabine & Viviane, Sapphic Lovers.
Istres (France), April 2022.
“At the time, when we met, I was 41 years old and Sabine 28 years old.
It was absolutely not love at first sight that evening.
First I saw an ordinary girl!
But her, she had planned everything, she had everything in her head!
Frédérique and Annie (a couple for twenty-three years, Sapphic Lovers. Bouches-du-Rhône, March 2023. © Léa Michaëlis
I found her likeable but nothing more.
I I’ve never been attracted to women, I don’t like women, honestly.
But it’s her.
Charlotte& Anna, Sapphic Lovers. Paris (France), December 202. © Léa Michaelis
It’s deep even, how it is her.”
Viviane
Mad and Angelina (a couple for eight years), Sapphic Lovers.
We were nicknamed the dykes, lots of other homophobic insults, in 5th and even 6th grade!
Isabeau & Dan, SapphicLovers.Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France), December 2022. © Léa Michaëlis
They didn’t even wait until we were together, they projected a couple onto us.
For them it was disgusting, and it made us freak out.
So at one point I broke down.
Isabeau & Dan, SapphicLovers.Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France), December 2022. © Léa Michaëlis
Angelina
Marine & Julie,Sapphic Lovers.
Montrouge (France), November2022.
I already have that.
Leo and Lou (a couple for four years, Sapphic Lovers. Poitiers, January 2023.© Léa Michaëlis
In fact, I did not like this situation at all and I said to myself never again.
(…) So I am aware of al that that implies on his part.”
Julie
Sarah & Stephanny, Sapphic Lovers.
Aube &Suzanne,Sapphic Lovers. Marseille (France), November2022. © Léa Michaelis
Grenoble (France).January2023.
“In the evening, when we are together, we have a spiritual and physical ritual.
We meet and smoke weed while listening to music.
Aube &Suzanne,Sapphic Lovers. Marseille (France), November2022. © Léa Michaelis
Then, we connect to our bodies through dance.
We take out everything that is inside of us, with words or even without saying anything.
In this very special m o m e n t , we focus on being together.
Louise & Margot, Sapphic Lovers. Paris (France), November 2022. © Léa Michaëlis
Putting all our energy into each other.”
Stephanny [words translated from Spanish]“It’s a special moment for us.
Especially since we have our cat, Brioche, who connects a lot with us.
Cléo & Justine, Sapphic Lovers. Lyon (France), April 2023.© Léa Michaëlis
We’re together, it’s a very beautiful and really precious moment.”
Sarah
Hanna and Maeva (a couple for three years), Sapphic Lovers.
Basel (Switzerland), May 2023.
Marie & Emma, Sapphic Lovers. Paris (France). December 2022.@Léa Michaëlis
Lea Michaelis
When we hugged, I held my breath.
One day, while we were both creating, I felt a strong attraction to Maeva.
I wondered if this wasn’t madness.
Marie & Marlène, Sapphic Lovers. Orléans (France), March 2023. © Léa Michaëlis
I had a storm inside me.
Hannah
Together, we have always felt a lot of emotions, especially through creation.
And at the same time, I was curious, because I felt so good with her!
When we create, we are in a situation of vulnerability, where we lay our emotions bare.
You get to know the person more intimately, and you get closer to them.
We invent worlds in which we transform and reinvent what concerns us, makes us laugh or annoys us.
When we build something together, we immerse ourselves in a special energy, which bonds and inspires us.
Together, we create something unique because we complement each other so well.
We are stronger, we can create and experience even crazier and even truer things, while remaining ourselves.
Art takes an important place in our lives.
Audre Lorde evokes this common erotic force between the relationship of two people and creation.
This strength carries us every day.
There are no real barriers between our relationship and our creations, they are linked.
Maeva
Frederique and Annie (a couple for twenty-three years, Sapphic Lovers.
Bouches-du-Rhone, March 2023.
Lea Michaelis
At the age of five, I left Algeria and arrived in Miramas (France).
Thats where I met Annie, who came from Madrid.
In middle school and high school, we were friends and together all the time.
Until she got married, and I left for Paris.
(…) Since I was 13 or 14, I had feelings for her.
But she seemed to be in an idyllic couple, who I didn’t want to disturb.
For me, our understanding and our complicity were quite evocative, but obviously she did not understand it.
Frederique
For several years we tried to keep in touch, by telephone or by mail.
Frederique had her life in Paris and I had mine, married with children.
But we always had our close friendship in mind.
In 2000 I was 43 and she was 42.
I was questioning my life and my relationship.
So I called him and told him I was considering a fresh start.
And then she declared herself a little abruptly: Its me or no one.
I didn’t know that Frederique had romantic feelings, even though I was well aware of our closeness.
(…) For me it was a close friendship, nothing more.
(…) After hanging up, I cried a lot and thought for a long time.
I was very confused and realized that I felt a lot of emotions towards him.
(…) It quickly became obvious.
I began to imagine our reunion but my only fear was that I might idealize it.
We spoke for two months, and during that time I arranged for us to meet in January 2001.
(…) I left for Paris, I was enthusiastic and very impatient to see her .
Yes it’s her.
Annie
Charlotte& Anna, Sapphic Lovers.
Paris (France), December 202.
“The issue of lesbianism still clashes with very feminine heterosexuality and disrupts it.
Lesbianism blurs the boundaries of femininity and masculinity because ti is outside heteronormative boxes.
To what extent is our gaze influenced by the “male gaze”?
To what extent does one exist as a sexual being in the within society?
To what extent is calling oneself “fem” emancipatory?
Asserting oneself in sexuality and libido, it is very important.”
Charlotte
Isabeau & Dan, SapphicLovers.Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France), December 2022.
Lea Michaelis
Isabeau (19) and Dan (21), in a relationship fora few months.
“I recently called myself a lesbian.
For a long time I called myself bisexual.
It was a big challenge.
Today, it has become important to me.
I didn’t want to marry a man, or have children.
Isabeau
Leo and Lou (a couple for four years, Sapphic Lovers.
Poitiers, January 2023.
Lea Michaelis
In the United States, we spoke with a couple of very old lesbians.
They told us that they had lived through the time when they were called queer.
Whereas here, in France, its a word that we imported to create inclusiveness!
Leo
Aube &Suzanne,Sapphic Lovers.
Marseille (France), November2022.
“About my coming-in, I realised ti more or less when I was in ninth grade.
I had a sports teacher who was the stereotype of the butch.
The sports teacher with short blond hair bleached withgel.
I felt that there was something, a connivance, a kind of invisible bond between us.
When I realised that she was a lesbian, I immersed myself in gay culture.
I started reading Tetu and watching The L Word.
It was a world with lots of representations that opened up to me.”
Aube
Louise & Margot, Sapphic Lovers.
Paris (France), November 2022.
Lea Michaelis
Cleo & Justine, Sapphic Lovers.
Lyon (France), April 2023.
Lea Michaelis
Marie & Emma, Sapphic Lovers.
Paris (France).
@Lea Michaelis
Marie & Marlene, Sapphic Lovers.
Orleans (France), March 2023.
