Saturday, February 28, 2009

Pangaea Take Two (of Three)

This blog post will be expanded up greatly, but for right now only the photos AND A PLEA FOR HELP.

The sheets got a little shuffled around last night (i was drunk) and so i don't know who was kissing whom :)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get in touch and let me know who you are and who you were kissing.

j@kissingstrange.com>


It was a night of unity at Duke last night. The Pangaea event brought us all together and focused on togetherness.
It was also held in the library! 

I, along with my amazing assistant Jeanie (thank you so much!), stood in the center walkway between the two libraries where people were shuffling back and forth, catching some cool night air to take comfort from the sweaty dancing and drinking. Crowds of spectators were watching as complete strangers came together for a brief, and, as you will see, not so brief kiss. There was almost a manic energy of the Kissing Strange project last night as people were encouraging one another to kiss and Jeanie was handling all the admin as I snapped photos and talked about the project. 

I am sure none of them expected that an evening that focused on togetherness would be taken to another level but I am grateful to each and every one of you who stopped to be in a photo and hope to hear from you soon!

Caitlin & Joe

Chrissy and Andrew

Jodi and ???

Christina and Daniel

Laura and Mike???

Carolin and Abe

John and Michelle

Laura and Michael

Guillarme & Alex

Josh & Claire

(i wish i had my wider lens for this, he swept her up off her feet and held her in his arms for this kiss. 100% class)

Ivan & Jodi


x

-j

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
Because we're all family



Sunday, February 22, 2009

What a Little Moonlight Can Do

I made my first foray into the night with this project yesterday and I have learned a few things. They are as follows:
-Remember to adjust your aperture when you switch between shooting existing light and flash (as you will see, I forgot and ended up with my aperture wide open when I thought I was stopped down).
-People like the nightlife. (This is something I'd vaguely forgotten because I rarely go out anymore. I'm like an old [happy] married woman.)
-A 50mm prime lens is too tight a frame to easily fit kissing strangers into when you're in a very narrow, crowded bar.
-Alcohol RULES when it comes to Kissing Strange. 
I know I could have gotten many more shots last night because, as I discovered, people are all kinds of warm, happy and willing to play for the camera when imbibed with certain liquids but the lens I was carrying, as I mentioned above, led to my dropping my pursuit rather quickly and joining everyone in drinking as well. 

Nicholai and Gina
NameNicholasGina
Religion
Country of
Origin
Not listed
Not listed
Not listed
Los Angeles
OccupationNot listedFinance
Political
Affiliation
Not listedNot listed
Marital
Status

Not listedMarried 50 years. Not true.
Dave and Erin
NameDavidErin
Religion
Country of
Origin
Jew
Not listed
Not listed
Not listed
OccupationAttorneySystems Administrator
Political
Affiliation
IndependentNot listed
Marital
Status
NotNot listed


x.
a

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
Because we're all family

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The WPA























Perhaps it is selfish but I hope Obama initiates a program similar to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the 1930s, created under Roosevelt and responsible for producing some of the most lasting images of the Great Depression. I believe the arts are important culturally, socially and even economically and that funding for it, while highly controversial, is a positive and important thing. 

x.
a

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
Because we're all family

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Valentine's Day


Kissing my man with the lens of my camera for Valentine's Day in Vermont.

“I'm late, I'm late, For a very important date. No time to say ‘Hello.’ Goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!” The White Rabbit certainly knows how to speak my language. I always feel late, no matter the day or the hour. I can never seem to get all the things I’d like to get done, done, and by “most things,” I refer specifically to this project. I have taken a paltry two Kissing Strange pictures in the past two weeks.

Valentine’s weekend presented itself as an ample opportunity for kissing shots but rather than taking the invitation to go to a large party where people would be well lubricated with libations and the impetus to kiss, I confess I instead went to Vermont for the long weekend to do some kissing of my own. Selfish but necessary. While I feel remorse for not having focused at all on this project over the break, my camera is now hot in my hands and ready to take aim. Here's hoping your lips have been busy these last few days and if they haven’t, email me: I’ll be sure to remedy that.


x.
a

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
Because we're all family

Friday, February 13, 2009

The Science of Kiss

Copy/Pasted from CNN/Health (except for the photo)

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- When your lips gently brush against the mouth of your beloved this Valentine's Day, it may feel magically romantic, or sloppily slobbery, or blissfully gentle, or perhaps too rough and toothy.

The science of kissing even has a name: philematology. Researchers are investigating the mechanisms involved.

Regardless, the practice of kissing is nearly universal. It is practiced in at least 90 percent of cultures among sexual or romantic partners, experts say. Now, scientists are investigating the biological factors underlying that ubiquitous expression of love.

The science of kissing even has a name: philematology. Research on the subject was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science in Chicago on Friday.

"Kissing is not just kissing. It is a major escalation or de-escalation point in a powerful process of mate choice," said Helen Fisher, professor at Rutgers University and author of the book "Why Him, Why Her: Finding Real Love by Understanding Your Personality Type." Visit CNNhealth, your connection for better living

Research led by Wendy Hill, professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College, looked at how kissing affects the hormones oxytocin, related to social bonding, and cortisol, a measure of stress levels.

The first experiment, which took place in a student health center, looked at college students age 18 to 22, and examined hormone levels in 15 heterosexual couples. In the control group, participants held hands and talked with their partner while music played. In the experimental group, participants were told to open-mouth kiss their partner for the length of the music -- 16 minutes.

The results showed that oxytocin levels in the women decreased after the session, but increased in the men. Levels of cortisol decreased for everyone.

A second experiment in a more romantic setting -- a secluded room with jazz music, flowers and electric candles -- looked at nine heterosexual couples and three lesbian couples.

Researchers found that the longer the relationship of a couple, the more the cortisol levels declined in those people. The heterosexual women, moreover, said they felt greater intimacy with their partners than the heterosexual men or the homosexual women did, while all groups expressed equal satisfaction in kissing their partners.

A person receives information about the person he or she is smooching by locking lips, Fisher said. A kiss transmits smells, tastes, sound and tactile signals that all affect how the individuals perceive each other and, ultimately, whether they will want to kiss again.

Kissing "can really either escalate a relationship or really kill it," Fisher said.

Women tend to be attracted to male partners with a different immune system makeup from their own, Fisher said. They subconsciously detect information about a partner's immune system through smell, a sense involved in kissing, she said.

One study showed that more than 50 percent of men and women reported that after feeling attracted to another person initially, the attraction ended after the first kiss, Fisher said.

We feel such sensitivity to kissing partially because of the way our brain is structured, Fisher said. The somatosensory cortex, which extends from one side of the brain to the other, has a large portion devoted to picking up signals from the lips, tongue, nose and cheek areas around the mouth.

"You can really get poked in the back and not feel it very much, but just a feather around your lips and you really do feel it," she said.

As for the origins of kissing, one theory is that kissing evolved as an extension of the way mothers used to feed their children. Early humans, who lacked jars of manufactured baby food, probably chewed up food and directly transferred it from their mouths to the babies', said Gordon Gallup Jr., professor of psychology at the University of Albany, who did not present at this panel.

Looking at a sample of more than 1,000 college students, Gallup and colleagues found that women also tend to emphasize kissing more than men, and are much more likely to insist on kissing before a sexual encounter.


x

-j

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
Because we're all family.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Ali and James

After a long and productive day of photography I went to the pub to have drinks with my fellow photogs and saw the two tables outside the bar occupied by complete strangers. While Love Rollercoaster played from James' portable stereo I snapped this picture of two strangers blowing one another a kiss.







I crouched down for a quick interview with Ali and her friend Ellie (who incidently has a blog of her own which has this insanely adorable post in time for V-day. 

J: You weren't will to kiss a stranger at first even when I said it didn't have to be on the lips. You agreed once I said you could blow a kiss. Why is that?
Ali: Because kisses are special.
J: Yea, but why?
Ali: Even when i kiss my mom it is still a love kiss, to physically touch someone with my lips. I am not going to do that with a stranger.
J: Not even kissing to say hello like the Europeans and other cultures do?
Ali: Not even that way.
J: Why do you think we kiss then? Why is it part of our anthropological evolution?
Ali: It is a special physical exchange.
Ellie: It is a non-verbal way to expression emotion either friendship, romantic or familial.

[In retrospect it makes a lot of sense what they are saying and I should follow up these answers with "why is it so special, so reserved? why can't we share this with everyone and be closer?" If anyone wants to tackle this question send in an email or comment.]

J: Tell me about your first kiss or your most recent kiss.
Ali: Do you mean like...
J: It can be any kiss. It's a big open-ended question. I love those.
Ali: I love that I can kiss my mom. We don't live in the same area and when we do it is always so...casual...never a big deal, but it is only because we are so close that we can feel that way. She is the person I am most connected to. 
J: And this gets back to the beginning of our conversation, what you are saying is that it is not possible to be "casual" with a stranger. I get that.
Ellie: My first kiss was when I was 16 and it was with a guy who was one of my best friends. I had a crush on him also. He was too drunk to remember, but we had a lot more kisses and it improved from there. 


ps. Ali is a painter. If you have a website, send it in. We love to see what our strangers do.


x

-j

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
kissingstange.com
Because we're all family.


Saturday, February 7, 2009

The Strangers We Know and the Friends We Don't

I woke up this morning and decided it would be nice to take a little train ride to Brooklyn with my camera in tow. The streets of Brooklyn happen to strike me as being particularly photo-worthy and I hoped I might find some willing strangers to participate in Kissing Strange while there. After disembarking from the train, I entered a nearby Mexican restaurant that I'd never been to before. It was small and dark and as I stood in line to place my order, my mind labored over the question of whether I wanted a margarita or a beer to go with my huevos racheros. I grieve over such decisions if not properly made. My tumultuous reverie was interrupted when a man exiting the restaurant handed me a napkin in passing, telling me I'd dropped it. Quite certain that I hadn't, and far more worried about the question of margarita vs. beer than dropped napkins, I thanked him and dismissively placed the napkin on the counter. "No," he said. "Read it." Entirely confused between beer, wine, margarita and napkin, I opened the latter and saw the following scrawled in ink:
KISSING STRANGE
D
.*
Kissing Strange
It blows my mind that there are people out there who read this blog and know this project and don't necessarily know me or J directly. I find it exciting that technology allows for such unspoken conversations between people, sometimes turning strangers into friends or providing the light to show things the other way round. It can be humbling to read the writing of someone you think you know only to discover that their thoughts, passions and ideals are not what you'd presumed or imagined; that the person you think you know is someone you've perhaps overlooked or taken for granted so much so that the person you think you know is effectively a stranger. This again is part of the impetus behind this project: to bring people together and illuminate the gaps between them, even and particularly when they're not aware that they're there, for if we can't see the gaps, how can we bridge them?

Mike and Jamie
NameMikeJamie
Religion
DemocratNone
Occupation
Ethnicity
Attorney
None Listed
Assistant at a Theatre Agency
German/Chilean
Political
Affiliation
Democrat
None
Marital
Status
Married
Single


Robert and Chel (?)

NameRobertChel**
Religion
None Listed
Recovering Catholic
Occupation
Ethnicity
Retired
None Listed
Graphic Design + Illustration
Asian
Political
Affiliation
Democrat
Liberal
Marital
Status

Married
Single
By the way, I find it interesting what people choose to list or leave out on the Kissing Strange questionnaire. I don't push them for answers; I just say they should disclose what they're comfortable disclosing.
I am off to see a puppet show!

x.
a

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
Because we're all family

*D, J and I hope you won't be a stranger. Send us a note and say hi!
**I couldn't make out the name of the woman in the second picture. I believe it says Chel but whoever you are, please drop me a line if I have listed your name incorrectly.

L'Etranger

Recently on a flight to Chicago I read Albert Camus' The Stranger. Without giving away the details, it is a story that deals with how absurd humanity and existence is in the grand scheme of an otherwise indifferent universe. The main character at the end of the book is in prison and has an epiphany.

I too felt ready to start life all over again. It was as if that great rush of anger had washed me clean - emptied me of hope - and gazing up at the dark skies spangled with the stars and signs, for the first time - the first - I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe.

It is this moment of clarity where the main character accepts his fate and understands his place in this world "indeed, so brotherly". 

Although his situation is rather bleak, the idea of embracing the world with all its inherent beauties and fallibilities ran through my head a lot last night. I thought of the two different conversations i had with my friends Eléna and Jenn about connections and about what we hope to accomplish in our lives, respectively. All this before I picked up my camera. 

I was stuck on the idea that, somehow, fleeting moments have the capacity to change a life fundamentally and, while the universe may be cold and indifferent, what remains is our ability to do more, to grow and accomplish things in the wake of these moments. In some way can we be the architects or auteurs of our own moments?


---

This is the first time i have included the full bios. Some of the answers are amazing.



Anne: Occupation Graduate Student & Instructor 
Political Affiliation
Religion
Ethnicity Caucasian 
Marital Status Single 

Clay: Occupation I Do What I Want 
Political Affiliation Democrat 
Religion Love Others 
Ethnicity White 
Marital Status Bachelor till Rapture 




Ian: Occupation Student/Dishwasher 
Political Affiliation Barry Obammy 
Religion (Not) Jewish 
Ethnicity White As Hell 
Marital Status Single As Hell 

Eléna: Occupation Student 
Political Affiliation Democrat 
Religion
Ethnicity
Marital Status




Zvia: Occupation Student 
Political Affiliation No Idea 
Religion Jewish 
Ethnicity New Yorker 
Marital Status Single 

Agnes: Occupation Student 
Political Affiliation Democrat 
Religion Catholic 
Ethnicity Caucasian 
Marital Status Celibate 


x

-j

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
kissingstrange.com
Because we're all family

Predictive

a short post, while i work on my big post from last night. alexis sent me a txt about something she is going to blog about a little later and when I wrote back i noticed that predictive text guesses the word 'lips' instead of 'kiss'

i just thought that was really book - i mean - cool.

x

-j

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
kissingstrange.com
Because we're all family

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Forces of Geek





A special shout out is owed to Stefan Blitz, creator of Forces of Geek (FOG), for putting up a lovely ad for Kissing Strange on his website. J (Meow Mix) and I (Ob·ses·sion: Redefining Unreasonable Preoccupations) are new contributors to FOG and look forward to lots of non-Kissing Strange related discussions over there but Kissing Strange will not be forgotten in any way, shape or form, we promise. :)


A Little Bit on Process

King for a Day

Yesterday was another dark, snowy day, but it felt less playful than our first winter snow this year. It fell heavy and hard, suffocating the streets with the fullness of its body. When I am teetering on the edge between stress and a meltdown at work, I find myself far less capable of perceiving the world for what it really is. The world gets cloudy and claustrophobic and I find myself far less able to approach strangers for a kiss. 

I have to be in a certain place mentally and emotionally for the job, and I can almost always tell ahead of time whether or not my approach will be successful because it more often than not has to do with me than others. To get strangers to kiss, you really have to be a salesman, selling something to strangers that they think they neither want nor need, yet you have to show them that in fact it is something they want and need. They want to connect and they need the world to come together, lest we destroy each other in senseless warfare or factioning. 

If any small part of me doubts my own admittedly far-reaching arguments or questions my own faith in the project, the stranger I’ve approached will see straight through me and walk away, understandably convinced that they have better things to do with their time. If I approach with conviction and joy, on the other hand, I’ve found very few people are willing or able to say no. Call it politeness or a fear of disturbing the peace but whatever it is, joy and conviction can dissolve the walls and gets the job done.

When I’m on a roll though, getting two strangers to kiss is still often an awkward process. I usually wander heavily traversed streets looking for faces, well aware of the fact that in reality, I'll take whatever I can get. A person that looks lost or someone who is waiting for something (a bus or cab) is usually the first one I try and talk to. I introduce myself, give them a one-sentence explanation of the project and ask if they would mind taking part in it. I skip over the hesitation of their obliging answer, thank them and immediately search for a counterpart. With one subject found, the second becomes much easier. There really is power in numbers.

I’ll approach absolutely anyone who crosses the path of my first subject to see if they’ll join in as the second at this point, and most times the passerby will happily, or at least willingly oblige. Then it’s just a matter of taking the picture. I usually shoot three pictures without insisting on a kiss so people can get a bit more comfortable with each other. Almost no one will kiss in frame one. By the fourth frame, though, I reiterate what the project is all about and won’t fire until I see some kissing action. Once the capture is made, I thank them, ask them to sign releases, and learn a bit about their background before they go on their way.

I would love to start taking more time with people to interview properly but this 10-15 minute dance usually takes place on my way to work in the morning and sadly, I am often as rushed as my subjects are to get where I'm going. I’d like this to change for the weekend. This weekend, I would like to slow this whole process down and get more information about each individual because the true pleasure of this project is living its mission statement day in and day out. The pleasure comes from getting to know a little bit about each person, getting to know all the things you share and ways you differ, folding their story into someone elses and folding that story into my own. That is what it’s all about. That is what keeps me going when I’m teetering between stress and a meltdown on a snowy day in New York City- the fact that I can walk away from a stranger and sincerely say, “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

x.
a

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
Because we're all family

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Catherine and Anne

Catherine and Anne
NameCatherineAnne
Religion
N/A
Don't Think So
OccupationWaiter/MusicianProduction Assistant
Political
Affiliation
LiberalLiberal 'til Death
Marital
Status
In LoveProbably


x.
a

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
Because we're all family

Friday, January 30, 2009

Various Artists - A Party of Special Things To Do

UPDATED: Become a "fan" of the project on Facebook

ps. you Divinity School kids know how to throw down.

It was an incredibly productive night for Kissing Strange. As was pointed out in the comments, Alexis and I seem to be playing to our comfort zone at this moment. This seems true to a certain extent as most of the people kissing, especially in this set, are the same age. Physical attributes like Age, Beauty and Ethnicity are the "instant gratification" aspects of meeting a stranger, beyond that it's anybody's guess. On the surface it may appear that we are making the obvious connections, if you look behind the curtain there is something altogether different.

I did an interview with Matt Brandau (married) who refused to be photographed.

J: Why won't you kiss somebody? It doesn't have to be on the lips. 
Matt: It is simply not okay. Cheating is defined by the significant other and until you get the okay...don't do it.
J: Even blowing a kiss to someone in a photo?
Matt: Well, what does that mean to an outside observer? Blowing a kiss to me is like love. 
J: But not all kisses mean love. I see what you are saying though, it is going to depend on the person. What does a kiss mean to you?
Matt: A kiss is a symbol of love and affection. It is something personal and sensitive - and it can be passionate- but it should be reserved for the person you are "with."
J: How about the person you are with, tell me about your first kiss with her or your first kiss ever.
Matt: You are going to love this. I was 12, playing spin the bottle and [laughs] she totally dissed me. I was a 12 year old boy and she was a 12 year old girl which means we were like 10 years apart. The bottle landed on us and I leaned in for a peck and then there was more than just a peck. She said to me "Damn you don't know how to kiss...I gotta teach you." 18 years later and we are married.

Matt and his band The Old Ceremony are playing Cat's Cradle on Valentine's Day.

You can see the big versions on My Flickr

Valeria and Dan


Dan: I got sprayed with beer and then I got to kiss a pretty girl. Not a bad night. 

Warren and Aleksandra


Warren: I'm gay, but you are beautiful. I will definitely kiss you. 

Nicole and Julie


J [to Julie]: I know you asked me to find a boy...

Jeanie and Bobby (blogspot)

Jeanie: I'm engaged, but you have been making me dance.

Ashley and Julian


Julian: Let me see the [first] photo. No no no. We have to do that again. 

Amy and Nathan
 

J [to Amy]: ...It doesn't have to be on the lips, it could be an air kiss, kiss on the forehead, eskimo kiss...
Friends: ESKIMO KISS!!! [Amy is from Alaska]
Amy: Okay. Eskimo kiss.
*Party Erupts*

Send us your thoughts. kissingstrange@gmail.com

x

-j

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
www.kissingstrange.com
Because we're all family


Stefan And Stephanie

I love the names. 



I had an opportunity to interview Stefan about a few things. He was really enthusiastic about the project and mentioned his brother lives up in NY so, if all goes to plan, we can get Stefan's brother in the book too. Small world.

J: Tell me about your first kiss.
Stefan I was 17 and a freshman in college at Swarthmore. I had just come from a non-competitive hockey game where I was manager. I came back to campus with a beautiful Bulgarian sophomore from the team and she and I kissed on the whispering bench.
J: I love those. The acoustics let you talk to each other from across the room with only a whisper. Now the big philosophical question...What is kiss? Why do you think the kiss is part of our culture and social evolution?
Stefan: I guess in a way it is all about closeness and comfort. The mouth is intended for clean things and so to be close to someone your mouth becomes an indication of how you are with a person you are kissing. In a way the kiss is a manifestation of your inside or outside self, in the philosophical sense, the more you are comfortable and close with someone the more you let them inside and the mouth is a conduit for that. 

x

-j

kissingstrange.blogspot.com
www.kissingstrange.com
Because we're all family