Budapest, My Love

Budapest, My Love, Photo by Shannon Finney, 2010 Budapest

In the age of Facebook, and MySpace and Twitter and YouTube, it would seem that there is nothing left that can truly shock someone. Reality TV adds the extra dimension of multiple cameras and curious group living situations to rachet up the action. But the most unexpected thing that I encountered was along the streets of Budapest, Hungary where I witnessed lovers sharing long, lingering kisses and noted that no one else seemed to mind! Here at home, this is the stuff of hormonal teenagers or of illicit, adulterous grown-ups. The sensual has become the perverse, so much so that we even develop a careful, manicured vocabulary to mute the power of this connection - calling a kiss a "public display of affection" or PDA, the same three-letter acronym used for your Blackberry or iPhone! Asking your crush if you can "hang out" when you really want to ask "will you love me?" What I saw when I photographed this couple was so immediate and intense that the only way I could describe it was with this image.