These couples are literally wrapped up in each other - posing for bizarre shrink wrap wedding pictures. 

Photographer Hal Kawaguchi covers the lovebirds in lube then vacuum packs them together in a huge plastic bag - sucking out all the oxygen. 

He even keeps a paramedic on hand as the suffocated couples hold their breath and he has just four seconds to take the shots. 

Despite risking death if anything goes wrong, Hal has been flooded with requests from couples - and even newlyweds - for the odd portraits and wedding pictures. 

Hal, from Japan, said: 'I decided to vacuum pack couples as a way to show how close and in love they are. 

'At first I chat with the couples and tell them what will happen. A rehearsal is carried out without going into a bag at first. Then, they climb into the bag. It likes assembling a puzzle. 

'I suck the air out with a vacuum cleaner until there's none left. This gives me 4 seconds to take the shot. 

'In this extremely limited time I can't release the shutter more than twice.They're never in danger though as I have a rescue body guard on hand at all times.' 

Hal uses lube and coolant gel to slide the couples inside the bag and ensure there's no friction with the plastic. 

A household vacuum cleaner then sucks out the oxygen before he dashes back behind the camera to take two quick photos. 

The couples have to hold their breath for about ten seconds or more while the process takes place. 

Hal's pictures started as an art project but the craze has taken off and he now receives requests for couples who want a set of the extraordinary pictures. 

Newlyweds have even commissioned him to shoot their wedding pictures. 

Hal added: 'Men and women are attracted to each other and they try to become one. 

This fundamental desire carries an energy that affects everything in the world. I wonder what is the reason we have to make such an effort to become one. Possibly we were all originally one. 

'With my pictures, I try to show this power of love by getting the couples as close together as possible. The less distance there is between them, the stronger the power of love. 

'I think love is the most important thing in the earth.I think that everything positive in the world starts by focusing on love.'