A kiss is brief, but the street around it keeps moving. In Ignacio Lehmann's 100 World Kisses project, that contrast becomes the heart of the photograph: an intimate moment inside a much larger public place.

The Argentine photographer took the idea through different cities, creating a body of work that attracted international attention in the 2010s. The series is as much about the surroundings and the people involved as it is about the repeated gesture.

A couple kissing beside a red doorway in Ignacio Lehmann’s series
A couple kissing beside a red doorway in Ignacio Lehmann’s series. Gallery attribution: Ignacio Lehmann / 100 World Kisses.

One subject, many different pictures

The project's premise was to photograph a hundred kisses in each city. Radio Nacional de Colombia's 2014 feature describes its development from early photographs in New York into a wider artistic journey.

A repeated subject gives a collection a clear shape, but it does not make the images interchangeable. Clothing, posture, the distance between people and the character of the street all change the mood.

Some scenes feel exuberant; others are quiet. A close crop asks you to notice a small gesture, while a wider frame lets the city enter the relationship. Look at what happens near the edges as well as at the people in the middle.

Affection has more than one form

It is easy to attach a sweeping statement to these images: everyone everywhere expresses love in the same way. The photographs do not establish that, and they become more interesting when they are allowed to show differences.

Public kissing has different meanings and levels of acceptance across communities and circumstances. A selection of photographs is not a survey of every culture, nor can it tell us the whole story of a relationship.

What the series can offer is a collection of particular encounters. You can enjoy their warmth without asking them to speak for everyone.

Try a theme that leaves people comfortable

For your own travel project, choose a subject you can return to without turning strangers into props. Shared umbrellas, hands holding café cups, flowers outside doorways or the colours of public transport can produce a surprisingly coherent set.

A couple with a bicycle in a colourful street scene
A couple with a bicycle in a colourful street scene. Gallery attribution: Ignacio Lehmann / 100 World Kisses.

If people are the main subject, approach them respectfully and explain what you hope to make and how you intend to use it. Accept a refusal easily. A good photograph is not more important than the person in it.

Keep a short note about each picture: where you were, what caught your attention and any names or details the participants chose to share. Those notes often preserve more of the encounter than an automatic location tag.

Let the city remain in the story

When revisiting the photographs, ask what would disappear if the background were removed. Sometimes a street corner gives a moment its humour or scale; sometimes a plain wall allows an expression to carry everything.

For another project where people and place work together, explore Omar Z Robles's photographs of dancers in Cuba. Both collections show how a clear visual idea can lead to a varied journey, provided the individuals remain more than illustrations of a theme.