People kiss. Yet the depiction of kissing can be highly controversial. Bollywood comes to mind. For decades, there'd be singing, dancing and saris soaked in rain, clinging to curvaceous contours, but no one ever kissed. When the first kisses appeared on screen, street protests broke out. It was an hideous stain on Indian honour and a dire threat to an old civilisation, they said. Five thousand years, and they never kissed?

For the next couple of months, I want to make a series of photographs of people kissing. Erotically, romantically. But always same sex.

And then I want to exhibit them.

Most of you (I hope) will think that this is a totally innocent project. Some heterosexuals may say it's a bit weird, but harmless. The state, however, may well treat it as subversive.

I asked a friend who had some dealings with the Media Development Authority (MDA) last year. He told me that pictures of 2 persons of the same sex, but posed in a way that suggested sexual intent, were banned from an art exhibition by the MDA, even though that exhibition overall had an R(A)18 rating. [1]

Well, if that is the case, the MDA will have to ban my entire collection. But wouldn't that be a ridiculous over-reaction?

Yet consider this: the movie 'Infamous', which is currently showing at Cathay, contains a scene where actors Toby Jones and hunky Daniel Craig -- the latter of the new James Bond Casino Royale fame -- share a same sex kiss. And the movie is rated M18.

Another movie that's playing, 'Spider Lilies', has a long kiss between the two female leads. This one, however, is rated R21 since it also has lovemaking scenes.

Does it make any sense that a same-sex kiss is allowed on celluloid, but not in still photographs? We shall see how this saga plays out.

* * * * *

 
My kissing project is intended as a work of art and like works of art, it is meant as a mirror through which we, individually and collectively as a society, reflect upon ourselves.

• Why are there inhibitions about kissing for the camera, especially when we know that everybody or nearly everybody has a desire to kiss?
   
• Why was it that until recently, actors couldn't do a same-sex kiss for fear of ruining their careers? We've always known that they are actors playing roles, after all.
   
• When people kiss for my camera, are they real couples or are they just acting? But then again, when people kiss in real life, is it always a sincere declaration of love? Surely there are cases where one party is leading another on.
   
• How many of the people kissing for my camera are really gay? Couldn't they be straight, merely playing the part? Then again, how many people who in real life go on heterosexual dates, kiss and even make out, are really closeted lesbians and gays, merely playing the part that society "expects" of them?
   
• And of course, how will the state respond? Why does it respond in the way it does? Why is it that art exhibitions in Singapore require a licence at all?

I want to engage my audience as much as I can. As a project, it is not just to be a static display. That's the reason why I am writing about it now, so that my readers can follow the progress of this endeavour and the twists and turns that come along. The collection though, will only be shown when it is complete.

I have had one photo session already. It was a remarkable evening with over 20 people showing up when I was expecting 10. The vast majority of the 20 were unattached and very sporting, prepared to kiss, well, I won't say 'indiscriminately', but fairly liberally, though I gave everybody a choice as to whom they were prepared to pair up with. Others were real couples, but I'm not about to identify who is who. To be honest, I am quite confused about some of their names! Overall, some nice pictures came out as a result; the image at the top of this article is one of them.

I am now organising a second and third session, and this is a call for volunteers. All pictures will be taken indoors in a private studio. As I indicated above, I don't care whether you're gay or straight and you will have a choice whom else in the room you are prepared to kiss. What I have observed is that for males, it is easier to kiss a total stranger than somebody whom one already knows. For females, it may be the other way around (I'm not sure).

The photographs will not be used commercially.

Do drop me a private email (yawningbread [at] gmail [dot] com) if you're interested in being part of this envelope-pushing, poke-at-censorship project. Do it for the sake of a better, freer Singapore. 

© Yawning Bread