VALENTINE'S DAY

Arianny Celeste’s 2012 Complex Magazine photoshoot

VALENTINE’S DAY has since childhood revolted me. I didn’t know why. It just didn’t feel right. I wrote out the cards and gave little girls heart shaped candies saying, “Will you be my Valentine?” Stupid. It was stupid and meaningless to me then, and as an adult the vibe, the feeling was awkward, and vaguely inappropriate. Because it was not something I dwelt upon often I never researched the questions of the day until a few years ago. The historical fact of the ritual explains my initial revolutions and renders the yearly pandering for unauthentic love more comical and tragic... - Gregory E. Woods

Arianny Celeste’s 2012 Complex Magazine photoshoot