The passion files
#01 Stolen moment
This famous image from Life magazine was captured on August 14, 1945. It was thought to show a passionate embrace between a couple celebrating the end of the Second World War. But in truth, the sailor in this picture was kissing every woman in New York’s Times Square, and the nurse was married to another man. The woman in question, Edith Shain, can be seen below in 2005, aged 86, at the Times Square Kiss-In, an event held every August 14, where couples recreate the scene. Shain died in June this year, and the sailor has never been identifi ed.
#02 Heart of glass
This is the Ventricle Vase. It was hand-blown by Eva Milinkovic of Tsunami Glassworks in Canada, and the swirls of colour are meant to represent the many emotions of the human heart. They include purple for passion, red for love, and blue for melancholy.
#03 Tough and tumble
This bedraggled competitor is taking part in a Tough Guy race in the UK’s West Midlands. It’s a chance for passionate athletes to race across eight miles of muddy fields, rope swings, uphill scrambles, water-filled tunnels and fi re walks, then crawl under barbed wire (while machine-gun blanks are fired overhead), and plunge into icy water. It’s held in mid-winter, and claims to be the toughest race in the world. On average, around one third of starters fail to complete the course. Injuries are common, and in 2000 a competitor died of a suspected heart attack.
#04 Head case
Swedish artist Michael Johansson (below) has an almost obsessive passion for neatness and filling spaces. His sculptures have included filling every square centimetre of a caravan with kitchen products, fitting a series of different-sized storage boxes in alcoves in people’s homes and, on a grander scale, creating a perfect rectangle from old cars, camper vans and storage containers. This piece is called Packa Pappas Kappsäck (Pack Daddy’s Suitcases), the name of a Swedish tounge-twister. He sourced the cases from flea markets, seeking out pieces that would fit perfectly within each other.
#05 Dapper sapeur
This gent with a passion for fashion is a sapeur in the Republic of the Congo. The sapeur movement is dedicated to dressing well, and inspired by 1970s’ musician Papa Wemba. The image is part of a series by photographer Francesco Giusti that came second in the Arts and Entertainment Stories category of this year’s World Press Photo competition. World Press Photo exhibitions are being shown around the world throughout the year.
