James Friedman is an American photographer who lives in Columbus, Ohio. His last series is a vibrant collection of kisses photographed in public space.
I do not remember any kissing between family members as I was growing up. It wasn’t until my mother was hospitalized for eight months, unable to speak, that we began to kiss good-bye before I would depart for the day after visiting her. I was thirty-nine years old. These newly discovered displays of affection were imbued with genuine caring and profound sadness as we both knew she had only a short time to live. Our relationship in my mother’s final months inspired my photographic project, Pleasures and Terrors of Kissing. I am attracted to projects the subjects of which could easily devolve into cliché. Such was the case with this one. By including other subjects with the kissers, I was able to make complex, textured and surprising photographs—and eschew predictability.
James Friedman
James Friedman is photographer and teacher, offering workshops, mentoring, private instruction and portfolio reviews worldwide. His mentors are Minor White and Imogen Cunningham. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
