This coincides with the 50th Anniversary since the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships in England and Wales.
However, the reality is in 72 countries around the world homosexuality is still illegal. We want to share with you how we sought to raise awareness for this fact.
In support of Stonewall, we asked individuals from these countries to come together and portray human love and compassion at its most natural state - by uniting in a kiss.
Africa
Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt*, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Asia
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, India, South Sumatra and Aceh Province (in Indonesia), Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
Americas
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.
Oceania
Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu.
Photography exhibition
We held an special private view for the exhibition, at Protein Studios in Shoreditch on the 3rd August.
The private view was a huge success, with over 370 people attending, and an Absolut-themed bar. There was also a live DJ set by Jonjo Jury, who played lively music which added to the feeling of exhilaration and fun that filled the event.
The images on the central structure of this exhibition showed the climaxes of the photographic series, the poignant moment between two strangers who have come together in intimate displays of support. On the walls of the space, we showed a selection of moments we captured surrounding the kiss – a glimpse of an awkward smile, a tense exchange, a nervous nose-bump.
The exhibition was also on show over the weekend between 4th and 6th August.
Kisses
Casting
The casting was a real labour of love, as we set out to find these 72 individuals. After 2 months of research in the end, we managed 64 of these 72 countries – and we are so grateful for those who took part and took a risk to help us with this project.
HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT
We created an event at the Houses of Parliament to exhibit photographs for Kiss With Pride.
The launch event on the 27 July at the House of Commons, hosted by Absolut, Gay Times and LGBTQ rights campaign organisation Stonewall, also featured speeches by the Lord Speaker, a long-time advocate of LGBTQ rights, and Niranjan Kamatkar, artistic director of the LGBT Arts Festival. Source Pride.com
Produced by
Lauren Daniels
Mercedes Januszczak
Photography by
Samuel Bradley