L.A. Pictures, 2000, Twelve Lambda Prints

The L.A. Pictures (2000) ‘L.A. Pictures’ is a series of image-text pieces that aims to articulate a space between reality and fantasy through the gesture of the kiss. To make the work Manchot instigated encounters with strangers on the streets of Los Angeles, couples who happened to pass by. Each couple was photographed kissing and asked to write down an imagined kiss with someone they would once like to kiss as well as their reasons why. Through the relationship of image and text the work attempts to sketch out an extended notion of photographic portraiture, one that is less concerned with the representation of appearance but instead provides a performative space for the participants.